The space will be the first in Latin America and will be developed in partnership with the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU). It will receive concerns from companies and propose solutions based on the application of artificial intelligence technology and the internet of things. Government and Microsoft authorities revealed the details of the investment at a press conference at the Executive Tower on Thursday 23rd.
The announcements were made by the secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, Álvaro Delgado; the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganini; the general manager of Microsoft Uruguay, Alejandro Pazos, and the representative of Microsoft Lab Rashmi Misra.
With this initiative, Uruguay is transformed into an operations center (hub) regional innovation laboratory, as it is the third laboratory of its kind outside the United States. The others are in Shanghai, China, and Munich, Germany, Delgado reported.
The agreement, he added, was finalized in record time, after the signing of an understanding two weeks ago, during Minister Paganini’s visit to the city of Los Angeles, and with the participation, via internet, of the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou.
Delgado explained that the laboratory will begin to be instrumented this Thursday and is expected to start operating immediately. It is an achievement of Uruguay, recognized for the attractions it offers for investments, such as its stable and thriving economy, political and institutional stability, and human talent, he said.
Paganini, for his part, affirmed that this project is part of a national strategy to position the country as a hub of innovation and that enables the national ecosystem to take a leap in the new wave of digital technology.
Meanwhile, Rashmi Misra declared that she found in Uruguay a very appropriate environment for innovation and that one of the reasons why Microsoft chose the country to install its laboratory is the familiarity of children with technology, from the early stages of schooling.
The space, called AI & IoT Insider Lab, will be open and will be accessible to emerging companies (startup) Uruguayan companies to develop prototypes. The center will interact with firms on real cases. The problems will be analyzed and work will be done to develop a solution, in a period of approximately four weeks. This process will include the realization of prototypes for the solutions. Presidency
