FIWARE Foundation, the non-profit organization that encourages the adoption of open standards using Open Source technologies for the development of smart solutions on a global basis — is proudly welcoming seven FIWARE Innovation Hubs (iHubs): CARTIFactory iHub (Boecillo, Valladolid, Spain), Smart Metropolis (Natal, Brazil), NOSC-UA DIH (Kyiv, Ukraine), My Digital City (Halden, Norway), and La Vega Innova (Spain, Madrid), Fieldlab (Tampere, Finland), and Posadas FIWARE iHub (Posadas, Argentina) in its global ecosystem. The FIWARE iHubs network continues to show fast growth expanding to a network of 46 iHubs from 23 countries, to foster technological innovation and digital transformation across the world.

By breaking the traditional barriers for technology enablement and business acceleration with the usage of Open Source solutions and standards, these seven FIWARE iHubs offer professional training, resources and expertise that help local and regional stakeholders, as well as their partners and customers, to succeed in their digital transformation journeys and innovations in domains, such as Smart Cities, Smart Energy, Smart Tourism, Smart Agrifood, Smart Industry and Manufacturing. They provide professional expertise on IoT-driven solutions, Sustainability, Data Spaces, Digital Twins, Robotics and AI.

Spain, Brazil, Ukraine, and Norway: FIWARE is welcoming iHubs from around the world

The global FIWARE iHubs network provides iHubs with access to a vibrant community of innovators, experts, and business leaders, encouraging knowledge exchange and collaborations. This extended network can significantly enhance the visibility of the iHubs and their affiliated businesses, allowing them to reach a global market, establish strategic partnerships, and expand their horizons. Today, FIWARE Foundation opens the doors to new iHubs such as:

CARTIFactory iHub (Boecillo, Valladolid (Spain): Fundación CARTIF is a horizontal, private and non-profit Research Institution, whose main mission is providing innovative solutions to the industry to enhance their processes, systems and products, improving their competitiveness and creating new business opportunities. The organization is aiming at providing tailored training programs, workshops, and support services that address the specific challenges faced by local businesses and developers. By integrating FIWARE technologies and focusing on collaborative robotics and digital transformation they offer innovative solutions that enhance productivity and foster growth.

“We aspire to become a FIWARE iHub to empower our local ecosystem by driving digital transformation, fostering innovation, and promoting the adoption of open standards in Castilla y León. As an iHub, we will leverage the synergies of the ARISE project, bringing advanced technologies and open-source solutions to businesses, startups, and public institutions. Our goal is to enhance digital skills, support the creation of smart and sustainable applications, and facilitate collaborative projects that integrate human-robot interaction and other cutting-edge technologies.”

– said D. José Ramón Perán, Head of the iHub.

CARTIFactory will support local entrepreneurs and developers by providing access to open-source technologies, training, and mentorship to help them build innovative solutions, particularly in collaborative robotics and digital transformation. This will boost the local economy by creating new opportunities for businesses and fostering a collaborative tech community. For neighboring cities and countries, the iHub will act as a hub for sharing knowledge, promoting regional collaboration, and driving digital innovation across borders, enhancing the overall economic growth and competitiveness of the region.

Smart Metropolis (Natal, Brazil): The Digital Metropolis Institute (IMD) is a Specialized Academic Unit of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), with a profile distinct from most academic centers and departments of Brazilian federal universities. Smart Metropolis iHub is promoting the FIWARE platform in cooperation with CIGA, a consortium of Brazilian municipalities, including the City Hall of Natal, and two Brazilian companies. It is deeply integrated into the regional and national smart cities ecosystem in Brazil, being the leading national reference in FIWARE technology. The iHub is focused on supporting local entrepreneurs, developers, and the local economy in several impactful ways:

• Training and Education: By offering specialized courses and workshops on FIWARE and smart city technologies, the iHub equips local professionals with the skills needed to develop and implement cutting-edge solutions.
• Consulting Services: The iHub provides consulting services to help local businesses and government entities leverage FIWARE technology effectively.
• Collaborative RDI Projects: By partnering with local and national entities, the iHub fosters collaborative projects that address regional challenges.
• Knowledge Sharing: The iHub actively participates in the FIWARE community and other relevant forums, sharing knowledge and best practices with local stakeholders.

“Smart Metropolis is one of Brazil’s leading research, development, and innovation initiatives for smart cities. In its early years, we invested not only in FIWARE technology but also in its philosophy of open, inclusive, and collaborative technology. We are pleased that with each new partnership, we see that our decision to invest in FIWARE since 2015 was the right one”

– commented Frederico Lopes, Head of the iHub.

NOSC-UA DIH (Kyiv, Ukraine): The Virtual Center for Digital Innovation (NOSC-UA DIH) of Kyiv Academic University was created by the National Academy of Science of Ukraine for the provision of digital services on the basis of a cloud cluster of the Ukrainian National Grid (NOSC-UA HUB – Virtual Center for Digital Science) which supports the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) National Initiative.

The iHub takes part in measures of Kyiv’s Regional Administration to implement the smart specialization strategy of the Kyiv region. NOSC-UA DIH pays particular attention to working with entrepreneurs interested in the development of diptech and the use of scientific developments of the institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Moreover, the iHub provides digital innovation services for scientists, the business sector and public authorities using cloud technologies and advanced technologies, such as AI, Digital twins and Data space, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity.

Volodymyr Nochvai, head of iHubs says:

“As NOSC-UA DIH FIWARE iHub we are aiming to include services based on FIWARE platform to the iHub service list and hold educational webinars and matchmaking events to spread FIWARE technologies in the Kyiv region and Ukraine in general. Besides that, we expect support in the provision of services, creation of products based on FIWARE technologies, as well as in the formation and implementation of international digital projects.”

My Digital City (Halden, Norway): Since 1948, IFE has been a frontrunner in international energy research having contributed to the development of ground-breaking cancer medicine, new solutions in renewable energy, more energy-efficient industrial processes, zero-emission transport solutions and future-oriented energy systems.

My Digital City strategically focuses on digital sovereignty for the public sector, the industry, and the citizens. By promoting open standards, open source, and interoperability in digital solutions and value chains, they contribute to fair value creation from digital artifacts, accelerate the digital transition and facilitate user-centered design. One of the iHubs’ strategic goals is to build data spaces in the region to foster data sharing and increased data-driven innovation, while preserving trust, privacy, democratic principles, and autonomy.

Petter Kvalvik, Head of iHub, comments:

“The iHub will support a sustainable and societal development of cities safeguarding human centricity”.

As an iHub, My Digital City will facilitate mobilization activities in the region, organize workshops and hackathons and engage students from Ostfold University College. It provides context information from the city’s p hysical environment to local stakeholders for innovation and insights. Moreover, the iHub aims at sharing competencies, experiences, and best practices with the regional stakeholders and promoting interoperability as a means for increasing efficiency, productivity, and technology independence.

La Vega Innova (Spain, Madrid): The iHub was founded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain It has been firmly promoting the usage of FIWARE technology through the creation of the innovation Hub La Vega Innova, making significant financial investments to develop a one-of-a-kind space to integrate FIWARE agrofoodtech solutions. This space serves as a meeting point for companies, public authorities, educational institutions, and other entities with the objective of making FIWARE the foundational system for interoperability in the agrifoodtech sector in Spain.

Beatriz Pablo Simón, Head of iHub:

“For me, the important thing to highlight as a project director is to be able to generate data spaces for public and free use that the FIWARE ecosystem favors and the new collaboration models that derive from it at a European and international level.

La Vega Innova is developing its activity in close connection with the other associations, foundations and organizations of the agrofoodtech sector and, using its capabilities, proposes various projects at the service of society. Besides that, the iHub has different programs and projects to support entrepreneurs and startups such as 9 months period acceleration programs. More than one million euro is allocated to the development of innovative projects based on FIWARE.

Posadas FIWARE iHub (Posadas, Argentina): The Municipality of Posadas has a strategy to transform itself into a smart city and a smart destination, positioning itself as a reference for Argentina and Latin America in the use of smart city and smart destination technologies, which are at the forefront worldwide. Posadas city has undertaken an initial implementation of its digital twin destination, based on FIWARE’s technology platform, in conjunction with the Cities of the Future Institute (FIWARE iHub of Argentina). It is the first tourist destination globally that has developed using FIWARE technology, and which promotes the creation of the working group on Data Models for Smart Destinations, along with the Institute and the Diputación de Badajoz (FIWARE iHub of Spain).

Diego Carmona, Secretary of Tourism and Economic Development, Posadas City Council

“The reason why the city of Posadas is joining FIWARE is to continue its established policy of transforming the city into a Smart City. Likewise, we believe that a digital and innovative ecosystem in the city and tourist destination, which facilitates the integration of smart solutions for the efficient management of resources and contributes to improving tourism experience, urban mobility, local production, and sustainability —crucial axes of work— is necessary to achieve our goal. Additionally, this initiative seeks to generate new business models for local entrepreneurs and opportunities for innovation in the tourism and commercial sectors. Through an action plan aligned with the aforementioned axes of work, we aim to establish the Posadas FIWARE iHub as a reference for innovation in Posadas and the region.”

The iHub aims to promote a technological development and knowledge economy for all the inhabitants of Posadas, Misiones, Argentina and Latin America, using open source technologies with the support of FIWARE, as well as to undertake the following:

• Build smart city and smart destination innovation labs.
• Develop pilot projects and test solutions to solve the problems of citizens and companies in strategic sectors for the city and the province.
• Provide coaching and mentoring for startups.
• Include FIWARE training programs for students in secondary and tertiary levels, and for companies, researchers and technology professionals.
• Community building: organize networking events and enable participation in national and international events for all stakeholders in the city.

Fieldlab (Tampere, Finland): The iHub is developed by the Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). TAMK collaborates closely with regional work life and funds FIWARE development. In practice, this means that the funding agencies expect TAMK to collaborate closely with local industry to collect and update state-of-the art from industry partners for pilots and demonstrations considering the use of industrial data.

Tero Haapakoski, Project Manager, TAMK:

“With a focus on Industry 4.0, robotics, additive manufacturing, and industrial engineering, FieldLAB harnesses the power of the FIWARE data platform to foster innovation. We invite you to join our events to explore how data-driven solutions are transforming industries.”

The University has already two ongoing projects that utilize FIWARE. FairDatAct is a Ministry of Education and Culture funded project with the aim to reach research excellence on topics regarding data and AI. DataFactory is a regional project focusing on providing practical Industrial Internet of Things demonstrations to SMEs. Thanks to these two projects, FIWARE has become an interchangeable part of TAMK’s manufacturing laboratory competencies. Joining the network of FIWARE iHubs will enable ramping up the use cases already fully or partially developed during 2023 and 2024, as well as sharing information in the region and in the FIWARE community. Specifically, the aim of the iHub is to share its progress, disseminate activities in the region, and participate in events and meetings targeted to make Industry 4.0 a reality.

Would you like to get more information about the FIWARE iHubs network or apply to be a member? Find out more here.