San Juan, .- Puerto Rico will become a center of international technological innovation thanks to host the headquarters of the first laboratory of the internet of things and artificial intelligence of the Caribbean, a project with which it is intended to contribute to the growth of the economy of the island.
Luis Torres, co-founder of Engine-4, the entity that promotes the project, told Efe today that it is a technological innovation center that will be the only one in the Caribbean region, which will be operational within a period of 5 months in Bayamón. , municipality of the San Juan metropolitan area.
He said that this technology center takes as reference the internet of things, a concept based on the interconnection of any product with others around it by means of electronic devices so that they communicate with each other and solve problems.
The second reference for this laboratory is artificial intelligence, understood as the simulation of human intelligence processes through machines, in particular computer systems.
The new laboratory will work under these two parameters, with the aim of contributing to the local economy, strongly hit by an economic crisis that has lasted for more than a decade and the hurricanes of September 2017 that devastated the infrastructure of the Caribbean island.
“Municipal, state, private and, in the future, federal funds contribute to this project,” said Torres, adding that those responsible for carrying out the development of the projects are Puerto Rican university students.
Torres indicated that this laboratory will provide economically acceptable solutions to, for example, public entities that could go to the market, but with this option they avoid having to face very high economic costs.
Engine-4, Steam Forge, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) of the island, the Municipality of Bayamón and the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research contribute to the development of the first laboratory of the internet of things and artificial intelligence of the Caribbean. Trust.
In addition, private companies include Intel, AT & T, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Aruba Networks, Evertec, Fortinet and Microsoft.
Torres put several practical examples of the future usefulness of this laboratory, such as the development of a technological system to detect when sewers are plugged in the municipality of Bayamón.
Students from the University of Puerto Rico have worked on the development of a computer system that will allow the municipality to know exactly when any sewer from its urban health system is plugged.
Another project is the development of a system that can be downloaded in mobile phones that will allow, through “geolocation”, to know the users where exactly the bus network of the Bayamón transport network is located. , even, if there are free seats.
A third project already under development is to locate devices in the sowing fields of the island capable of collecting data on rainfall, humidity or amount of pollen that contribute to the improvement of crops.
“In these projects costs are minimized,” said Torres about these three initiatives promoted by Engine-4, just an example of what can be developed when the new laboratory is operational.
Torres stressed that the initiative will help everyone, since the participating companies, which provide technology, can benefit from the recruitment in the future of students already with experience gained and in addition to the media exposure of the projects.
The beneficiaries, such as public entities, may have technological solutions outside the high costs that the market supposes.
The system foresees agreements between the laboratory, companies and public institutions, the latter with, for example, the transfer of facilities.
For the construction of the first laboratory of the internet of things and artificial intelligence, the DDEC contributed with $ 250,000 in incentives from the Special Fund for Economic Development (FEDE) and the Municipality of Bayamón with $ 557,000.
Torres stressed that it is the first technological center of its kind in the Caribbean. (EFEUSA)
