INESC TEC leads digital capacity-building project in AI and HPC

A European digital innovation hub that seeks to promote and support the testing, development and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) solutions to improve the performance of companies and public administration entities. This is the core of the ATTRACT project, an initiative that is taking the first steps to support the ongoing digital transition in Portugal and Europe.

INESC TEC is one of the coordinators and 24 partners that attended the kick-off meeting of the project, which took place at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. The participants discussed some of the actions planned to increase the impact of AI and HPC technologies in the development of solutions that address the needs of companies and public administration bodies. At a time of great changes in the world economy, with the fast dissemination of knowledge and a significant development of science and technology, it makes sense to prepare companies for the challenges associated with these aspects.

“The project explores the supply dimension, supporting tech-based companies that incorporate AI and HPC in their products and services, but also the demand component, with organisations that use said technologies. The implementation of technology pilots and demonstrators, supporting training and boosting the innovation ecosystem around these domains, while exploring important business opportunities at European level – in liaison with the European Digital Innovation Hubs – are vital to achieve our goals. Hence, we aim to act as a fully qualified access point (one-stop-shop) to support companies and public administration entities”, explained Rui Oliveira, member of the Board of Directors at INESC TEC and project coordinator.

As a digital innovation hub, ATTRACT will focus on synergies and favour outstanding quality and performance benefits for businesses. The consortium features a set of partners in these areas, from several regions of the country, presenting a catalogue of different services and products.

“There is a certain complexity in this project: in addition to the totally new concept created by the European Commission, we will provide individualised support to customers to address their particular needs. The adoption of these technologies by organisations will require the implementation of demonstrators, the adequate training of human resources, and the creation of innovation ecosystems. We will facilitate the access to the European network of Digital Innovation Hubs that promotes the exchange of skills, experiences, and knowledge at European level, as well as the development of joint projects”, added Vasco Teles, INESC TEC researcher and project manager.

ATTRACT runs until 2025 and is funded by the Digital Europe Programme and the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan. The project brings together research centres, universities, collaborative laboratories, two business associations and an innovation company.

The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC.