The Regional Minister of Industry and Ecological and Digital Business Transition, Mikel Irujo, and the Regional Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Patricia Fanlo, recently visited the headquarters of the NAITEC technology centre in No\u00e1in. There they were able to learn about the latest advances in functional materials, advanced manufacturing technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for different types of industry, such as aerospace. \u2018This is an emerging sector in our community. Twenty years ago it was practically non-existent and in the last 15 years the number of companies has grown by more than 100%. I am convinced that in the next 15 years we will have a consolidated sector,\u2019 said Irujo.<\/p>\n
Together with the aerospace sector, the Navarrese minister praised the work that the automotive and mechatronics technology centre \u2018is carrying out pilot tests of new technologies applied to sustainable mobility. Navarre continues to take steps to promote innovation in mobility and move towards this new social and industrial paradigm, thanks to the collaboration of agents such as NAITEC\u2019, he added.<\/p>\n
For his part, Fanlo underlined \u2018the fundamental role that innovation plays in the region, which is a key opportunity that cannot be missed\u2019. \u2018Moreover, European funds, together with other tools of the region, such as the Navarra R&D&I System (SINAI), to which NAITEC belongs, are helping to promote and strengthen research in this field, making Navarra a territory of excellence and opportunities that cannot be missed,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
In this sense, NAITEC combines its experience in electronic products, sensors and AI to create customised solutions, capable of operating on hardware platforms with limited resources, and offers its experience to companies through IRIS Navarra Digital Innovation Pole, an initiative promoted by the Navarrese Government.<\/p>\n
Among other use cases, Irujo and Fanlo tested the operation of an artificial vision system for the recognition of people or objects and a robotic arm that replicates the movements of a person. They also learned about different projects in which AI has been applied, together with data analytics, to improve the efficiency of different processes and offer predictions on demand, production or maintenance needs, for example.<\/p>\n
The visit highlighted, in short, Navarra’s commitment to innovation at the highest level to boost companies in their goals of sustainability, innovation and digitisation.<\/p>\n