Picking Up The Pace

Accelerating the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Basque industry in order to increase the competitiveness of its companies was the mission with which the Basque Artificial Intelligence Center (BAIC) was created in 2021. The entity is configured as a public-private collaboration space for the promotion of this technology in the territory, and as a laboratory for experimentation and acceleration of projects. Its objective is to position the Basque Country as a pole of industrial artificial intelligence.

In its origins, the Center was promoted by different types of organizations, including the Basque Government and large companies from different industrial sectors, startups, ICT providers and knowledge agents, such as CAF, Euskaltel, Gestamp, Iberdrola, ITP Aero, Mondragon Corporation, Petronor, Sener, Versia, Deusto Seidor, Inzu Group, the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) and the Vicomtech Technology Center.

IT ALREADY HAS ALMOST FIFTY PARTNERS

However, in the two and a half years that followed, new partners joined the initiative, bringing the total to around fifty. BAIC aims to create an ecosystem To accelerate the implementation of AI in Basque industry, BAIC has created a collaborative ecosystem that covers the entire value chain: from suppliers to user companies, including public administrations and knowledge institutions such as Basque universities and scientific and technological centers in the territory. In fact, the articulation of this system is one of the objectives of the association, which is also responsible for promoting the creation of new companies in the AI sector by involving local tractor companies.

BAIC is dedicated to the development of different areas of activity, including a monitoring and reference observatory of the state and evolution of AI in the Basque Country, as well as monitoring international trends, promoting knowledge of this technology by developing, retaining and attracting related talent, identifying use cases and implementing unique pilot projects. To this end, the Center has carried out the mapping of the AI training offer, in response to the growing demand for skills and talent throughout the ecosystem. Key areas for development have been identified, facilitating the future creation of training programs to meet market needs.

Similarly, the mapping of AI agents in the ACBC has enabled the identification of more than 700 relevant actors. It has also created a catalog of use cases that, while highlighting successful projects, provides a detailed view of how artificial intelligence can address various challenges in industry and public administration. In addition, last year it defined 18 AI use cases that have led to the conception of a dozen potential driver initiatives.

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