Today, 16 June, in Strasbourg, Aline Kunz, the member in respect of Switzerland on the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, participated in the second day of the Open Innovation Dialogue Hub (15–16 June 2026). The event brought together European policymakers, researchers, and cultural institutions to advocate for open innovation as Europe’s pathway to genuine digital sovereignty. This initiative, organised by the Microsoft Open Innovation Centre, the Council of Europe, and GitHub, took place during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, with the aim of promoting open innovation and empowering culture and language through artificial intelligence.

The ambition was to place Europe’s languages, cultures, and communities at the heart of the AI era, rather than at its margins, by convening LINGUA grantees, policymakers, cultural institutions, and innovators from across Europe for two days of discussion, showcases, and announcements.

The meeting was opened by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Burton Davis, Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft. In his opening speech, Alain Berset stressed the importance of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and underlined that “when public institutions, academia, civil society and the private sector work together, AI can become a tool for inclusion. It is a matter of collective decision, what we do with these tools. It can protect and reinforce our linguistic diversity, instead of silencing diverse voices.”

Aline Kunz contributed as a panellist in a session dedicated to AI and linguistic sovereignty in Europe, which addressed questions such as how Europe can develop AI that functions effectively in its many languages, including its hundreds of regional and minority languages; the importance of open models and public datasets; and the role of institutions in safeguarding Europe’s linguistic diversity. In her intervention, Aline Kunz highlighted the message that “when a minority language is fully integrated into the digital tools of daily life, its prestige rises, and it is naturally transmitted to the next generation. That is the ultimate proof that technology has become the shield, rather than the enemy, of Europe's linguistic diversity.”