TECNALIA launches three disruptive platforms for the digital transformation of companies

TECNALIA launches three disruptive platforms to accelerate the digital transformation of companies

• This unique infrastructure combines a supercomputing centre, a data lab and a private cloud to take on digital projects in any field and in a comprehensive way
• In order to develop these platforms, TECNALIA has collaborated with international leaders in business network digitalisation Arista, Dell, Nvidia and Red Hat
• The platforms are located in TECNALIA’s facilities, and currently there are more than 100 projects being developed for over 60 companies

4 July 2024. TECNALIA applied research and technological development centre and international leaders in business network digitalisation Arista, Dell, Nvidia and Red Hat, are launching KATEA – infrastructure made up of pioneering platforms for the digital transformation of companies. This one-of-a-kind digital infrastructure combines a supercomputing centre, a data lab and a private cloud to take on digital projects in any field and in a comprehensive way.

Located at TECNALIA’s facilities across the three Basque provinces, these platforms are currently developing more than 100 applied research projects for over 60 companies.

According to the director of the infrastructure, Aitzol Zubizarreta, “we have created these platforms with the aim of anticipating the needs of companies and providing them with cutting-edge infrastructure to carry out their projects. We are paving the way for innovation and digital transformation, and helping them to carry out their projects in a secure and accelerated environment, enabling them to be more competitive in the marketplace”.

Open innovation

With an investment of more than €3m, TECNALIA’s technological platforms are aimed at facilitating open innovation and effective collaboration with research partners and stakeholders. The creation of this infrastructure has been possible thanks to the collaboration of international leaders in business network digitalisation: Arista, Dell, Nvidia and Red Hat.

Dell's hardware supports the infrastructure; and the hardware by Nvidia, the market leader in High Performance Computing environments, improves the speed and efficiency of complex computations, which is essential for scientific research and technological innovation. Red Hat brings greater stability and flexibility with its industry-leading platforms such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat OpenShift for containerisation and virtualisation initiatives, and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for high-performance computing and automation. Arista is the manufacturer of TECNALIA’s network infrastructure, which includes the networks that interconnect the platforms. In collaboration with manufacturers Econocom, Teknei and NTT, they have worked as integrators of the technological solutions that make up the new platforms.

Pioneering technology platforms

TECNALIA’s technology platforms combine three laboratories as links: Research Cloud, Data Lab and Compute Platform.

• First, Research Cloud is a private cloud built on Red Hat’s technology foundation. This technology allows TECNALIA to generate customised digital ecosystems for each project and company, so that they have a 360º vision of all the components at all times. The platform is consumed as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), through which TECNALIA can offer infrastructure to its clients. Capabilities range from deploying and managing virtual machines, networking and storage to deploying business applications in a more secure and flexible environment by implementing technology solutions offered by Red Hat platforms.

Alberto Torres Moreno, Business Development Manager for Red Hat OpenShift & Application Development at Red Hat said: “We are proud to collaborate with TECNALIA to develop KATEA. Collaboration is in our DNA and our software is developed based on open-source principles so that our broad ecosystem can use it from any open hybrid cloud environment, which means that our work has a unique value. This collaborative approach, based on open-source code, allows us to integrate more easily into multi-company projects. KATEA is an excellent example of how collaboration can drive innovation and digital transformation.”

Juan Meca, Business Sales Manager at Dell Technologies, explained: “At Dell Technologies we understand the importance of driving innovation and we do this through robust, reliable and efficient technology solutions. Our PowerEdge hardware is the cornerstone of KATEA, TECNALIA’s new digital platforms. This collaboration accelerates the development and optimisation of digital solutions, providing a tangible return on investment and promoting technological growth in general and in R&D&I environments and with the application of AI in particular.”

• Second, Data Lab is a common data space where researchers can access from its platform project master data, data generated by special laboratories and data generated by TECNALIA’s own buildings. The idea behind this platform is to unify data from very different sources and fields in a single space, enabling TECNALIA researchers and companies to use it to optimise existing lines of work or co-create new lines of research.
• And third, Compute Platform, a high-performance compute cluster that exceeds the PetaFLOP in power, offering high-performance computing capabilities for advanced scientific and technological applications. This platform specialises in AI model training, inference, simulation and analysis of structures and materials, as well as complex computations using tools such as Matlab, Jupyter Notebooks and R Studio.

NVIDIA’s Javier Pemán highlighted “the importance of accelerating local research from the private sector to enable the development of new models, fine-tuning of existing models to the needs of companies and optimisation of inference applied to use cases demanded by industry. Accelerating the practical adoption of AI and demonstrating returns on investment in parallel to the development of intellectual capital around AI.”

The three platforms that make up KATEA are integrated and connected thanks to Arista’s technology. This technology enables TECNALIA to have a complete, real-time view of its entire communications network to ensure secure and agile operations. According to Pedro Cutillas, Area Vice President "The DNA of IT is in companies like TECNALIA. A Hub to the present and future of AI, HPC computing and cloud, with ARISTA as the infrastructure for critical high-performance networks".