Tenerife’s candidacy to host the headquarters of the Spanish Artificial Intelligence Supervision Agency receives a new accolade. The five political groups represented in the Cabildo de Tenerife (PSOE, Ciudadanos, CC, PP and Sí Podemos) yesterday in plenary supported this initiative, presented on the 20th to the central government, which would make the Island the first region in Europe to host a national entity that monitors the algorithms that they allow machines to have human capabilities, the basis of artificial intelligence.
The geostrategic position of Tenerife, the development of plans and infrastructures that use artificial intelligence, the contribution of quantum supercomputers Mount Teide HPC and Anaga –among the most powerful in Europe–, the digital communications network, tax advantages, a large hotel and congress facilities, and the support provided by the University of La Laguna. These are the main strengths of Tenerife listed by the unanimously approved motion to house the entity that will monitor the artificial processes that clone human capabilities.
A great technology challenge
The central government has put a lot of interest given the dimension of the challenge facing this newly created agency. This technology, still in its infancy but with potential penetration in all sectors, from social to economic, represents an enormous challenge for humanity. The entity will control the impact of artificial intelligence on Spanish society and the need to guarantee its correct use. In this sense, its main mission will be to minimize the risks that these algorithms can bring in fields such as security, privacy and people’s health, as well as other fundamental rights.
Opportunity of “incalculable magnitude”
The motion defines artificial intelligence as a “skill that presents opportunities of incalculable magnitude for any industry, with the creation of innovative digital products and services.” It is the reason why Pedro Martín, president of the Tenerife Cabildo, bets on this “opportunity”, since it would mean “a boost for the future”. The island president considers that Tenerife has “sufficient arguments” to bet on the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence, especially because “it could start operating from now on the Island thanks to the infrastructures that we have and the advances that we have achieved, for example, in the expansion of digital fiber and connections with the rest of the world».
«The Artificial Intelligence Agency could start operating on the Island now»
Canarian Coalition he’s happy but…
Canarian Coalition joined the institutional support but launched some reproaches at the insular government, formed by PSOE and Ciudadanos. The nationalist spokesman, Carlos Alonso, pointed out that “Pedro Martín has gone from criticizing that the Cabildo collaborated in the start-up of satellites, something he did at the beginning of the mandate, to request that Tenerife host the agency.” “We are glad that it has rectified and that it continues to bet on innovation and technology because it is good for our Island,” added Alonso. The former president of the Cabildo also made another reminder: “The bases of this candidacy were established in previous mandates with the creation of the Data-Center, the Teide supercomputer and the cable system that were deployed years ago.”
Carlos Alonso also listed the construction and start-up of the Iactec building –Space, Medical Technology and Large Telescopes linked to the University of La Laguna– and the initiative of the Agustín de Bethencourt contracts, which has allowed the development together with the Center of Excellence for Development and Innovation (Cedei) a group of people who “support the candidacy of Tenerife”.
For the popular there are resources
The Popular Party, another of the main opposition formations, believes that “Tenerife has the conditions and sufficient resources to qualify for said candidacy.” the people’s advisor Manuel Fernandez misses “the leadership” in the island government team “when applying for this type of national or international candidacy” and “that leadership when Tenerife is clear about what priorities it has in the installation of this type of organisms» «In recent months we have seen how Tenerife wants to opt for the European Tourism Agency, the headquarters of the National Volcanological Center or the headquarters of the Spanish Space Agency». “Whoever covers a lot, squeezes little…”, the PP counselor ends with a saying.
“The bases of this candidacy were established in the previous mandates”
Sí Podemos Canarias and the «brain drain»
Sí Podemos Canarias supports the candidacy on the basis that “the tendency to decentralize state headquarters contributes to the development of our Archipelago and, in this specific case, to the promotion of the R&D&I industry on our Island”. The spokeswoman for the left-wing insular coalition in the Insular Corporation, María José Belda, considers that “a measure of this magnitude should mainly help create qualified jobs, which provide added value to the economy, stable and of quality for the population of our Island, helping to promote a labor framework that can be accessed by all the profiles of such high training that we have in Tenerife».
Belda values as “an interesting option” being able to attract this type of state headquarters to the Canary Islands oriented to the field of science “to promote and advance in the necessary modification of the labor and productive model of the Archipelago based on its diversification”. The purple formation hopes that bets like this will stop “the brain drain” suffered by the Islands due to “a colonial model from the labor and productive point of view that we overexploit in the Canary Islands, based on tourism.”
At the technological forefront
The motion approved with the support of all political forces stresses that “Tenerife has remained at the forefront of technology” and cites the Artificial Intelligence Tourism Master Plan as an example. “This plan is the first for a tourist destination in the entire Spanish territory, so it will serve Tenerife as an innovative and technological lever and as a basis for jointly promoting specific action plans with different sectors of economic activity.” It also underlines the availability of “key” infrastructures in terms of artificial intelligence such as the Teide Astronomical Observatory, which is “one of the largest in Europe” and “has played an important role in the race for scientific research since the 1960s” .
“Tenerife has the conditions and resources to opt for this body”
High speed of communications
Another of the island’s great advantages is the high-speed digital communications network thanks to submarine fiber optic cables with direct connections to Europe, America and Africa. With America and Africa, the D-Alix Project is also being developed, recalls the motion, a link bridge with both continents that are added to the 50 satellites that provide communication services to Tenerife. “Thus, the island’s infrastructures provide coverage for the digital services necessary to develop any technological activity in contexts as diverse as artificial intelligence services, telecommunications, academic and scientific research, and both the public and private sectors.”
Capacity to host events of all kinds
A fundamental aspect to aspire to the agency is that Tenerife is capable of hosting large and small prestigious events. «It has five multifunctional congress centers, located in different areas of the island. These are emblematic buildings, with their own character, and with the capacity to gather up to 4,000 delegates. Also, Tenerife Convention Bureau, belonging to Turismo de Tenerife, offers information and advice on the organization of congresses and conventions on the island.
«A measure of this depth should help create qualified jobs»
A “consolidated” university system
The motion of the Island Corporation also highlights “a fully consolidated university system.” He points out that Tenerife has “prestigious” research centers and “a multitude of experiences in international scientific, research and innovation activities.” “Thus, the University of La Laguna has emerged as one of the standards of training in artificial intelligence, thanks to the programs and infrastructures that offer an unparalleled practical perspective”, concludes the motion approved yesterday in the plenary session of the Cabildo Tenerife.
