In the main image, left to right: Minister of Digital Transformation Jose Luis Escriva; Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government; Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corp.; Carol Ann Brown, Brad Smith’s chief of staff; Alberto Granados, president of Microsoft in Spain; and Natalia Escobedo, director of public sector at Microsoft in Spain
- President of Government Pedro Sánchez and Microsoft President Brad Smith have defined a cooperation framework regarding the application of Artificial Intelligence in public administration and the reinforcement of national cybersecurity.
- Microsoft plans to quadruple its 2023 investment in Spain to $2.1 billion by the end of 2025.
As part of Microsoft’s commitment to foster digital innovation and benefit Spanish companies and public administrations from the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the company is increasing its investments in Artificial Intelligence and cloud infrastructure in Spain during 2024 -2025. There are plans to quadruple the figure until it reaches 2.1. Billion. It represents Microsoft’s largest investment in Spain in its 37 years of presence in the country.
Microsoft will soon open a data center cloud region located in the Community of Madrid, and has announced its intention to build a data center campus in Aragon that will serve European companies and public entities. These two infrastructures will provide Microsoft Cloud services with maximum guarantees of security, privacy and data sovereignty, and will make it possible to make the company’s full range of Artificial Intelligence solutions available to Spanish and European companies and public administrations. According to IDC analysis, Microsoft data centers in Spain could add 8.4 billion euros to the national GDP and contribute to the creation of 69,000 jobs in the period 2026 – 2030.
This comes under investment commitment The cooperation framework was established today by Government President Pedro Sanchez and Microsoft President Brad Smith, Microsoft and the Government of Spain work together on the application of artificial intelligence responsible for improving citizen services, promoting innovation based on AI, as well as strengthening the national cyber security and cyber-resilience of Spanish companies, public organizations and critical infrastructures. do.
The cooperation is established within the framework of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and the National Cybersecurity Strategy defined by the Government of Spain, and is expressed around four lines of action:
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- Expanding the use of Artificial Intelligence in public administration, Good practices will be shared for the deployment of Generative Artificial Intelligence solutions in public administration, as well as training schemes in Artificial Intelligence, with the aim of modernizing administrative processes and providing the necessary AI tools to officials to increase their efficiency and effectiveness . For civil servants, align with the strategic cases for the use of AI for specific roles defined by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Services.
- Promoting responsible AI use. Microsoft will share its Responsible AI Design standards, as well as implementation guides and additional documentation on best practices in this area, with the Spanish Artificial Intelligence Supervision Agency (AESIA).
- Strengthening national cyber security. To strengthen national cyber security and, in particular, the cyber-resilience of critical infrastructure, Microsoft and the National Cryptological Center of National Intelligence (CNI-CCN) are jointly developing early warning and response mechanisms for computer security incidents. Will detect improvement. Public Administration.
- Improving cyber-resilience of companies. With the aim of improving the security of Spanish companies and especially SMEs, Microsoft will collaborate with the National Cyber Security Institute (INCIBE), which provides access to telemetry and global information on potential threats and cyber-attacks affecting companies and Spanish public administrations. will provide. Similarly, joint dissemination actions in the field of cyber security aimed at SMEs and citizens will be established.