The Government launches a consultation to identify proposals for the integration of artificial intelligence into the economy’s value chains, within the framework of the Recovery Plan

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has today published a call for expressions of interest (call for interest) to receive proposals that, through public-private collaboration, integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the value chains of the different sectors, in order to promote the digital transformation of the economic fabric.

The proposals must contribute to meeting the objectives of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (ENIA), published on December 2, 2020, within the framework of the Digital Spain 2025 agenda and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Spanish economy.

In particular, the proposals will guarantee the effectiveness of the actions derived from ENIA and guide the action of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence and public-private collaboration instruments for the correct deployment of artificial intelligence projects in the business environment and in the productive fabric.

As a complement to the R&D support actions promoted by the Ministry of Science and the CDTI, which are aimed at the earliest stages of research and development, this invitation is addressed to projects in the closest stages to the market of the innovation process based on medium to high maturity technologies (TRL 6 onwards).

The proposals should indicate which instruments would be most appropriate to achieve the objectives, define their scope and scope, or provide an overview of the degree of use of the different AI technologies that are intended to be used.

The projects will be supported by public funding, so the proposals must comply with the EU State aid regulatory framework. Once the deadline for the presentation of expressions of interest is over, the proposals will be analyzed in order to articulate the most appropriate public-private collaboration instruments.

The request for expressions of interest will remain open until April 2 and can be consulted here.

The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy is one of the measures of the Digital Spain 2025 agenda, presented on July 23, 2020, as well as the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Spanish economy, whose general lines were presented on October 7, 2020.

The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy seeks to promote the development of this technology, thus laying the foundations for the creation of an ecosystem of excellence in artificial intelligence that houses scientific research and innovation, the development of capabilities and talent, the deployment of data platforms and technological infrastructures, their integration into the economic fabric, the empowerment of their use in the public sector and the establishment of an ethical and regulatory framework.

The Strategy is endowed with 330 million in 2021 and plans to invest 600 million in the period 2021-2023.