Tech transfer hub APTA wants to make Chile a leader in AI

Chilean technology transfer hub APTA is looking to make 2023 "a key year in artificial intelligence."

“We seek to be the articulators so there are more opportunities and greater capacity [for innovation in artificial intelligence],” Varinka Farren, executive director of Hub APTA, told BNamericas.

Together with the software provider NTT Data, APTA has just launched a call for artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives in the business community.

NTT Data has chosen Brazil as a hub for metaverse topics and Chile as a center for AI.

The idea is to find solutions that can have a real impact on the economy and APTA sees particular interest in using AI for agriculture and mining.

The selected solutions will go through a proof of concept process. NTT Data has committed US$250,000 to the initiative.

“We're now in the exploratory stage. We expect that it won't take more than six months from the validation until the proof of concept begins, and then about two additional months to be able to choose the correct method: that is, if startups are going to be created or whether there are going to be business models with corporate capital,” Farren added.

APTA hopes to add other companies to similar initiatives. "We want to create a culture where a debate is generated and researchers can talk," he said, with the plan being to have continuous calls for open innovation on artificial intelligence issues.

The initiative is part of APTA 56, a program created by the technology transfer hub to promote the development and use of AI in the country.

APTA was created in Chile to promote collaboration between the productive sector and academia. The hub supports university technology transfer offices in the process of connecting with the private sector.