Catalonia concentrates 228 artificial intelligence projects within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the EU reference instrument for the promotion of R+D+i, where it presents a degree of specialization in this technology higher than the European average, according to the report “Analysis of specialization in artificial intelligence in Catalonia“.
The report has been drawn up as part of the RIS3CAT strategy and Artificial Intelligence Strategy of Catalonia.AI monitoring programme. It has been led by the Directorate General for Economic Development, Competition and Regulation (Ministry of the Vice-Presidency and Economy and Finance) together with the Ministry of Digital Policies and Public Administration and SIRIS Academic, which specialises in evaluating data-driven research and innovation policies.
The presentation of the report took place today at an online event organized by the Center of Innovation for Data tech and Artificial Intelligence (CIDAI), which included the intervention of the general director of Innovation and Digital Economy, Daniel Marco; the head of the Economic Promotion Area of the General Directorate of Economic Promotion, Competition and Regulation, Tatiana Fernàndez; the director of CIDAI and the Eurecat Digital Area, Joan Mas, and the SIRIS Academic team.
The paper identifies and examines the key players conducting research and innovation in artificial intelligence in Catalonia, their cooperation networks and specialisation areas. It also reviews Catalonia’s relative standing compared to the leading European regions and the cooperation networks of Catalonia’s stakeholders in the EU and maps out how artificial intelligence helps address the challenges of society (SDGs) and industry.
The study has tapped innovative methodology to harness artificial intelligence techniques for automatic identification of projects based on a vocabulary of over 600 words setting out the scope of analysis and dumping the entire H2020 and RIS3CAT project databases.
As reflected in the report, the 228 projects specialized in artificial intelligence within the Horizon 2020 framework place Catalonia in third place in the ranking of European regions within this program, where 11.3% of projects have a partner from Catalonia. It additionally pinpoints 45 artificial intelligence projects out of the 683 RIS3CAT projects examined (6.66%).
The analysis also highlights the ga large number of innovation projects and application of artificial intelligence in the sectoral areas of RIS3CAT. In this section, Catalonia’s artificial intelligence projects are concentrated in the health industries sector (80 projects), followed closely by industrial systems (44), energy and resources (40), and sustainable mobility (33).
The report likewise shows the rise in the number of artificial intelligence projects between 2015 and 2019 (the last full year of the reporting period) and reveals a marked upward trend in annual output commensurate with the growing scientific, technological, business and public policy interest in this field.
Leading artificial intelligence organisations and businesses
The entities in Catalonia that participate in more artificial intelligence projects are the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (28 projects), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (25), the Pompeu Fabra University (25), the technology center Eureka (16) and the University of Barcelona (14).
As for the companies that participate in the most projects, they top the list PAL Robotics (5), Worldsensing (4) and Dexma Sensors (4). In relative terms, the entities that have the highest specialization in artificial intelligence projects are the Computer Vision Center, with a percentage of 59%; the i2CAT Foundation, with 24%, and the Technological Center of Telecommunications of Catalonia, with a percentage of 20%.
Global potential of artificial intelligence
It is estimated that in 2030 artificial intelligence will generate an additional increase of 15.7 trillion dollars in global GDP, mainly from the increase in productivity thanks to process automation (including the use of robots and autonomous vehicles), the increase in labor productivity thanks to artificial intelligence (assisted intelligence and augmented intelligence) and the savings in time and production costs due to the above factors, and the increase in demand due to the availability of new, higher quality and personalized artificial intelligence products and services.
RIS3-MCAT Platform’s artificial intelligence module
The report is accompanied by the RIS3-MCAT Platform’s artificial intelligence module which is a crucial tool for the RIS3CAT’s entrepreneurial discovery process. It allows interactive exploration of actors, specialisations, challenges, international collaborations and artificial intelligence projects.
More information:
- Link to AI module of the RIS3-MCAT Platform
- Link to the report ‘Analysis of specialization in artificial intelligence in Catalonia’