SANTANDER/PALMA, 31 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Spanish Government has allocated 454,600 euros to the Balearic Islands to support two artificial intelligence (AI) projects, as part of the Red IA and Red IA Salud calls for proposals.
This initiative, managed by Red.es, aims to promote the integration of artificial intelligence in the business and healthcare sectors, according to a press release from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Administration.
The competent minister, Óscar López, announced on Monday that his department has finalized the Red IA and Red IA Salud calls for projects, with a total investment of 180 million euros, to support 372 artificial intelligence projects.
He made the announcement during his speech at the 40th 'Conference on Digital Economy and Telecommunications' organized by Ametic, the business association for the digital industry in Spain, which is currently being held in Santander and brings together the various stakeholders of the digital ecosystem (public administrations, companies, academia, professional associations, social representatives, and civil society) to address the challenge of balancing technological development with well-being, while promoting sustainable and inclusive growth.
"These calls for proposals are just a small sample of this Government's showcase of digital successes," said the minister, who was responsible for announcing this funding, managed by Red.es, last July. It aims to boost AI within the business and healthcare sectors.
As López explained, in the case of RedIA, 130 million euros from the FEDER funds are allocated to boost technological development and innovation in AI, as well as to integrate AI into production processes within value chains.
In total, he explained, 300 business projects (out of the more than a thousand submitted) from all autonomous communities will benefit from this funding, which will allow them to develop intelligent assistants, digital twins, advanced robotics, computer vision, cybersecurity, and predictive systems.
The minister highlighted that 70% of the selected projects are from SMEs and explained that the grants range from 400,000 to 5 million euros.
Meanwhile, the RedIA Salud call allocates 50 million to 72 projects that promote AI in the healthcare sector and will cover all stages of the care process, from prediction and diagnosis to treatment and monitoring.
These projects range from clinical, biomedical, and pharmacological research to those related to emergency response.
López highlighted the importance of this type of funding because "just as today no one starts a business without Wi-Fi, tomorrow no one will be able to compete without AI." "Productivity doesn't change simply because a new technology appears. It changes when this new technology is useful and becomes widely accessible. And to make Spanish AI, useful and competitive, widely accessible and to drive its development, we must increase our computing capacity," he explained.
"SPAIN'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: A SUCCESS STORY"
During his speech at the Ametic forum, the minister stated that "Spain's digital transformation is a shared success story" and noted that "AI is a key chapter in this story" thanks to the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan and public-private collaboration.
López reviewed the "key milestones and progress" of this transformation, such as being the first European country to establish an AI Supervisory Agency (Aesia); being the fifth-largest European market for private investment in AI start-ups; and holding the sixth position globally in the adoption of generative AI; and being the seventh in the world in AI progress, according to Stanford University.
"Spain has a solid foundation in AI on which to continue building an unbeatable digital economy," stated the minister, who believes it is no longer "a question of yes or no to AI, but rather what kind of AI," and that "the Government is absolutely clear on this."
"We want a human-centric AI that serves to modernize public services, boost the competitiveness of the private sector, ensure security, and protect citizens' rights."
"Spain is achieving this type of good AI," she emphasized, before highlighting the significant investment made by the Government through the National AI Strategy, launched in 2020 and reinforced in 2024, which has received funding of more than 1.5 billion euros.
This financial push has enabled the development of measures, resources, and projects such as the Law on the Good Use and Governance of AI; the EU-wide ban on sexual 'deepfakes'; the international coalition for the protection of minors at the UN promoted by this Government; the establishment of numerous chairs in AI, cybersecurity, and chip technology at the country's universities; the promotion of vocational training qualifications in AI; the creation of open and sovereign language models like ALIA; investing in leading Spanish companies like Multiverse, Sherpa AI, Submer, SENSIA, and Universal DX; and helping SMEs and self-employed individuals with digitalization through the Kit Digital and Kit Consulting programs.
In his speech, the minister stated that the Government wants Spain to be not just a leader, but a "reference point," and that this "means being one step ahead of the events."
For this reason, he explained, the Government is promoting the definition of the data center model through a Royal Decree to regulate requirements related to energy sustainability, environmental sustainability, resilience, and digital sovereignty.
"We want more data centers, of course, but we want the best data centers: the ones that are sustainable, efficient, and sovereign."
López stated that it is "a coherent and relevant initiative." "It's time to decide if we want a digital bubble or a serious, sovereign, and sustainable infrastructure," he added, before pointing out that countries like the United States and the Netherlands have already implemented measures to regulate these facilities.
"This is not a moratorium on data centers; it's about putting our model in order. All projects are welcome, but they must be well-organized and of high quality. "Orderly development is not an impediment, but a hallmark of the Spanish digital economy," he stated, adding that "Spain is leaning toward green data centers" and that this will be a wise decision.
