Minsait, The University of Granada and Google Cloud as technology partner create one of Europe's the most advanced Artificial Intelligence centers

Minsait, an Indra company, and the University of Granada have created AI Lab Granada, one of Europe's largest and most advanced Artificial Intelligence development centers with Google Cloud as a technology partner.

AI Lab Granada will combine talent and cutting-edge technology and will feature technology leaders, advanced computing and a model open to startup participation. With this, it seeks to develop Artificial Intelligence solutions that will help increase the efficiency and sustainability of companies, public authorities and society in order to have a real impact in areas such as health and quality of life, sustainability, the circular economy, the democratization of e-commerce, the optimization of industrial processes, intelligent employment or education. At the same time, it will serve as a center for the transmission and exchange of knowledge on Artificial Intelligence.

The center, which will be located in the Bioregión building of the Health Technology Park in Granada, will house more than 100 scientists with PhDs in Artificial Intelligence, as well as 165 consultants, developers and researchers spread over its more than 4,000 square meters. Eight of the ten most distinguished university researchers in Spain in the field of Artificial Intelligence will be working on the project, some of whom are among the main international references in the field. It will also promote from the outset an ecosystem of startups and entrepreneurship that will foster the transfer and exchange of knowledge, technologies and use cases. 

The Junta de Andalucía has played a key role in promoting the AI Lab Granada, which means that Granada will become the setting for one of the most innovative communities in the field of Artificial Intelligence in the world. This initiative is part of the process that aims to make Andalusia a European leader in digital transformation, improve citizen services and turn the autonomous community into a pioneering region in innovation, entrepreneurship and a home for technology companies.

As technology partner, Google Cloud will provide the suite of its AI and advanced analytics solutions to complement the center's cloud computing and storage capabilities. This approach will lead to the creation of an advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence marketplace oriented to the development of next-generation decision making models. In addition, thanks to this collaboration, Google Cloud experts will participate in the different activities, tutorials and events organized by the center, as well as in training for different audiences. Google Cloud will also grant Cloud Credits, which will be used in projects developed within the center and technical training sessions.

Minsait will be in charge of managing the AI Lab Granada, providing the project with highly qualified professionals and its own OnesaitPlatform, which operates on the products and solutions that the Indra company markets worldwide to accelerate the digital transformation of companies and institutions.

The center is open to the adhesion of entities that want to promote the development of their own products and services, based on access to the highest level of knowledge and development achieved in Artificial Intelligence through the specialized resources of AI Lab Granada.

Under this collaborative model, companies that join AI Lab Granada will participate in remarkable innovation projects, which will allow them to strengthen their competitiveness. They will also have the support of the center's talent in their adoption of Artificial Intelligence and be able to participate in its innovation dynamics and informative workshops.

AI Lab Granada will help improve the efficiency of companies through the use of cognitive technologies, facilitating the democratization of Artificial Intelligence, providing better competitiveness to organizations and maximizing the capacity of companies to extract value from data.

The center promoted by Minsait and the University of Granada (with Google Cloud as a technological partner) seeks to respond to the growing need to create "smart organizations" based on efficient data management (a factor that increases their competitiveness) to reduce the growing gap between the advance of technologies and the rate of their adoption (which threatens to leave many companies out of the economic fabric due to their lack of resources or talent to take advantage of the technological revolution that Artificial Intelligence will bring) and to address the lack of scale in technological proposals.

For Jose Luis Flórez, Director of Artificial Intelligence at Minsait, "the AI Lab Granada will be a continuous generator of innovation in Artificial Intelligence with a profound impact on companies and society under the criteria of sustainability and ethics, combining the best research talent, the most advanced technology and the real challenges proposed by the organizations that will participate in its day to day. It will be a bridge between science and the market, with technology leaders in AI and advanced computing, open to the participation of startups". 

The Vice Rector for Research and Transfer of the UGR, Enrique Herrera Viedma, has highlighted that "AI Lab Granada is a public-private AI Center of Excellence, unique in Europe, which was founded with the purpose of being an "AI Innovation Tank" driven by a leading international university in Digital Technologies and AI; a strong national company, leader in innovation in Digital Technologies and AI, and a leading international company in digital technologies and AI that is continuously innovating at a global scale. Our aim is to create an ecosystem of advanced digital technologies driven by AI to contribute to the digital transformation and to develop fairer and more sustainable societies, with more competitive companies and higher quality social services (education, healthcare). This center is set to be of considerable importance in the national recovery process that is now under way with the Next Generation funds, and puts Granada and Andalusia on the map of the most advanced technological regions in AI in Europe". 

"The creation of AI Lab Granada is big news for our country, which is undoubtedly becoming an important center for the development of the highest technology. The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy is one of the protagonists of the Spain Digital Agenda 2025 and at Google we know that the contribution of all agents, public and private, is needed for this technology to support scientific research, innovation and the development of skills and talent. All of this will undoubtedly favor the development and competitiveness of the business fabric in Spain," says Isaac Hernandez, Country Manager Google Cloud of Spain and Portugal.

The center will address six main lines of action:

•    Advanced cognitive perception, linked to sensorics and advanced data capture mechanisms.
•    Federated learning, with the aim of creating an analytics and data marketplace.
•    New human-machine interfaces focused on providing a better service to customers and citizens, with user experience and accessibility as the standard.
•    Industrial optimization, to achieve sustainable and competitive processes for the Spanish and European industry.
•    Ethics and privacy by design, which translates into ethical protocols and neutrality in the use of technologies.
•    Optimization of computational resources aimed at achieving high performance with low consumption, thus reducing the energy cost of super-computing processes, which require powerful cooling systems.

All this will result in applications that will have a significant impact in areas such as the digitization of European SMEs, sustainability and the circular economy, the optimization of industrial processes, better data management in the healthcare sector, the education and training of professionals for the digital era, research and development (R&D) in academia and the so-called "silver economy", linked to the demographic challenge and the increase in life expectancy, among others.

AI Lab Granada's governance model reflects the spirit of public-private collaboration that has characterized the project since its inception: Minsait will be in charge of the executive management of the center and the Chairmanship of the Governing Council will be held by the University of Granada. Both will have an external advisory committee and a monitoring committee, as well as a professional project management team, to ensure the commercial viability of the developments obtained. 

AI Lab Granada is born with an eminently practical approach and, unlike other research centers, incorporates the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence to the entire research and development process. 

About Minsait

Minsait, an Indra company (www.minsait.com), is a leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America. Minsait possesses a high degree of specialization and knowledge of the sector, which it backs up with its high capability to integrate the core world with the digital world, its leadership in innovation and digital transformation, and its flexibility. Thus, it focuses its offering on high-impact value propositions, based on end-to-end solutions, with a remarkable degree of segmentation, which enables it to achieve tangible impacts for its customers in each industry with a transformational focus. Its capabilities and leadership are demonstrated in its product range, under the brand Onesait, and its across-the-board range of services.

About Indra
 
Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technological partner for the core business operations of its customers world-wide. It is a world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in Transport and Defence markets, and a leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America through its affiliate Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive offer of proprietary products, with an end-to-end, high-value focus and a strong component of innovation. In the 2020 financial year, Indra achieved a revenue of 3,043 billion euros, nearly 48,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in over 140 countries.

About the University of Granada

The University of Granada was founded in 1531 and, although it has its seat of government in the city of Granada, where it has 5 campuses (Centro, PTS, Aynadamar, Fuentenueva and Cartuja), it also has one campus each in Ceuta and Melilla. Each year, almost 60,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend classes there and it has more than 5,500 staff members (including teaching and research staff and administrative and service personnel).

It is a University open to the world with a strong international vocation. It leads in student transfers with bilateral and multilateral agreements with more than 1,000 institutions around the world and welcomes students from 115 countries. It is also the coordinating university of the Arqus Alliance.

Along with its 27 faculties, the UGR has 17 research institutes and 5 research centers in which 532 research groups carry out their activities. At present, these research groups are involved in numerous projects, 142 of which are international in nature. The commitment to quality research has placed the University of Granada in top positions in different rankings (top 300 / 2nd best Spanish university according to ARWU 2020).

In the technological field, the UGR has a powerful cluster formed by its School of Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, the CITIC-UGR (the Research Center for Information and Communications Technologies of the University of Granada) and the CETIC-UGR (the Business Center for Information and Communications Technologies of the University of Granada)

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud accelerates organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise. We offer enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage cutting-edge Google technology to help businesses operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, providing customers with a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories have chosen Google Cloud as their trusted partner for resolving their companies’ toughest problems.