A Spanish technological project awarded to help reactivate the economy during the pandemic
The Spanish project Valencia IA4Covid19 has obtained first place in the technological challenge Response to the pandemic launched by the Xprize Foundation and awarded with 500,000 dollars (420,000 euros). The winning team is coordinated by Nuria Oliver, doctor in Artificial Intelligence from MIT (Massachussets Institute of Technology), co-founder of ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) and commissioner of the Presidency of the Generalitat Valenciana in Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences in the fight against covid-19; and J. Alberto Conejero, director of the Department of Applied Mathematics of the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
The four-month, global competition has been designed, according to Xprize, to “leverage the power of data and artificial intelligence” to provide “the knowledge and guidance necessary to implement public safety measures that help keeping local economies open while minimizing virus outbreaks until vaccines become widespread.” In total, more than 100 teams from around the world participated in the challenge.
Valencia IA4Covid19 will share the amount of the prize equally with the JSI vs COVID team, from Slovenia, although, the note states, the judges have decided to "distinguish" the Spanish team as first classified "for the quality of its presentations." Xprize is a non-profit foundation that proposes public competitions to promote technological development for the benefit of humanity.
“We applaud the ability and dedication of the two winning teams of the Pandemic Response challenge, Valencia IA4Covid19 and JSI vs COVID, and we thank everyone who has participated in this challenge,” declares Brian Humphries, CEO of Cognizant, sponsor of the award. . “Their data-driven AI models will help policymakers and health authorities safely restart economies and learn how to leverage these technologies to address future public health crises.” The participants' AI models have been evaluated by an independent jury made up of academics, pandemic response specialists, AI experts and epidemiologists, among others.
