The public company of the Government of Navarre, a leader in the processing of satellite images and in the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions, will lead a working group made up of 13 entities from 9 different countries over the next four years
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Defence Industry and Space has selected a consortium coordinated by Tracasa Instrumental, a public company owned by the Government of Navarre and the CPEN, to design Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for security and defense. The consortium, made up of 13 entities from 9 different countries, will receive 5 million euros in funding and will carry out its work over the next 4 years.
The consortium was selected within the European 2024 Defence Fund call, with its proposal entitled ARGOS, which aims to improve the defence capabilities of the European Union through the development of solutions based on Artificial Intelligence and satellite images, both optical and radar.
Specifically, ARGOS participates, together with three other consortia, in a technological challenge in which the groups of participants will have to design, develop and present AI models that solve specific challenges in the field of security and defense, using European assets at all times and contributing, ultimately, to the strengthening of the European Union’s operational autonomy.
Competition format: thematic challenges
Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global, leaders in the processing of satellite images and in the development of solutions with Artificial Intelligence, will tackle different technological challenges until 2029, together with the rest of the entities included in the consortium, with the aim of responding to specific aspects of security and defense challenges, such as target analysis, monitoring, searches, mapping and damage assessment.
Together with Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global, the following entities are part of this consortium: Centrum Badan Kosmicznych (Poland), Cubert GMBH (Germany), Evenflow (Belgium), Gisat (Czech Republic), Gmatics (Italy), Indra Espacio (Spain), Joanneum Research (Austria), Metasensing (Netherlands), Planetek Hellas (Greece), Rina Consulting (Italy) and the Universita di Napoli Federico II (Italy).
In addition to ARGOS, three other consortia are participating in this European initiative: MARTINA, which is led by Stichting Koninklijk (Netherlands) and will be in charge of managing the challenge competition; MYRYAD, which is coordinated by GMV (Spain), and ARGUS, with the leadership of E4 Computer Engineering (Italy). These last two consortia, like ARGOS, will respond to the challenges posed within the competition with AI solutions.
The work of Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global in the field of security and defense has as its most relevant precedent the IntSen2project, also led by Tracasa Instrumental, with participation by Tracasa Global. This initiative, promoted by the European Commission, receiving 3.28 million euros in support from the European Defence Fund 2021, and carried out during the 2023 and 2024 financial years, has laid the foundations for the creation of a strategic European security and monitoring service based on satellite images and Artificial Intelligence.
Navarre’s commitment to the EU, security and the development of innovative solutions
The Minister of Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tracasa Instrumental, Juan Luis García, stressed the importance of a public company such as Tracasa Instrumental continuing to lead cutting-edge European projects, as is the case with ARGOS. “This initiative is another example of Navarre’s firm commitment to the European Union, which not only supports us, but also recognizes our region’s high level in innovation and technology,” he said.
Minister García pointed out that this initiative, like the IntSen2 project, makes it possible to apply Artificial Intelligence to “understand and anticipate the needs we face as a society”. “Tracasa Instrumental has established itself as a leader in the development of efficient and innovative solutions in remote sensing, applying geospatial technologies to address the challenges of the future. This capacity will be especially strategic in the areas of defence and security”, concluded the director.
Meanwhile, Daniel Goñi, managing director of Tracasa Instrumental and CEO of Tracasa Global, highlighted the “specialization of the Tracasa Instrumental and Tracasa Global teams in the development of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence solutions, based on European assets and that favor decision-making in strategic sectors such as defense, security and emergency responses. For Tracasa Instrumental, as a public company of the Government of Navarre, it is an extraordinary challenge to coordinate this consortium and work on such an innovative and ambitious project.”
