History

  • In 2007, Bill Gates visited Colombia. As a conclusion of his visit it was clear that it was necessary to take advantage of the Colombian megadiversity through a high level research center in the country to develop and take advantage of its great potential in the fields of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. This idea was aimed at achieving the national government's objectives in innovation and economic development, so in 2008 its creation began, thanks to a cooperation agreement between Colciencias and MinTic.

Manizales, in the center of the coffee region, was chosen as the place to execute the project, since within a radius of 200 km from the city, there is a great variety of ecosystems, thermal floors and about 55,000 different species represented in one of the most diverse examples of flora and fauna in the country. Likewise, this region of Colombia has one of the highest densities of high quality university centers that include in their study programs careers related to life sciences and computer science, an important input for BIOS.

Thanks to the collaboration of the Mayor's Office of Manizales, BIOS, currently operates in the Rainforest Ecopark, Los Yarumos, counting since 2013 with one of the fastest supercomputers in Latin America and since 2015 with the most advanced visualization wall for scientific research in South America.

In 2016, with the interest in initiating product transfer processes to the industry, the initiative "Bioprospecting for the Cosmetic Industry" was started with the support of Colciencias and 4 companies in the sector, where our scientific team is responsible for carrying out bioinformatics analysis at different levels, for the improvement and creation of new tools and pipelines focused on making the most of the genetic information contained in our biodiversity for the generation of value-added products.

Thus, continuing with this same vision of contributing to the socio-economic development of our country, we embarked on the adventure of bringing cutting-edge technology to Colombia, to optimize and streamline research and development processes through Artificial Intelligence.

For 2018, BIOS will seek to strengthen the articulated work, thus, BIOS has as a goal the implementation of projects with strategic allies, which directly contemplate a transfer and scalability objective, which guarantees to go beyond research to achieve the application of scientific knowledge and cutting-edge technology, to respond to the needs of the country, in terms of solutions in environmental safety, innovation of food products, cosmetics and health, increased agricultural productivity, pest and disease control, improved or new services for citizens, as well as the application of artificial intelligence to optimize human-machine processes, streamline the processes of biological data analysis and obtain valuable information, facilitating decision making, the construction of new solutions, among others.

Timeline

The idea of a Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in Colombia was born as a bet for the strengthening of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Signing of the memorandum for the creation of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology of Colombia - BIOS.

Consolidation of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology of Colombia BIOS.

Deployment of scientific research and technological development activities.

Arrival of high-performance computing infrastructure. Launching of the Center. Recognition as a technology development center.

Start of the execution of the royalties project "Caldas Bio-region". Recognition of the research group. Definition of emblematic projects.

Launching of the visualization room

Deployment of training, applied research, institutional articulation and entrepreneurship strategies.

Successful completion of the Caldas - Bio Region royalties project, recognized by the DNP as a national success story in terms of execution and fulfillment of objectives.

Strengthening of articulated work, with the implementation of applied research projects to respond to the country's needs in terms of environmental safety solutions, innovation of food, cosmetic and health products, increased agricultural productivity, pest and disease control, improved or new services for citizens, as well as the application of artificial intelligence to optimize human-machine processes, streamline biological data analysis processes and obtain valuable information, facilitating decision making and the construction of new solutions, among others.

BIOS carried out projects seeking to take steps towards technological appropriation, initiatives ranging from specialized training courses that gave professionals tools to develop new solutions, the deployment of a data analysis platform in health to prevent or treat certain diseases, the installation of an IoT network for the control of public space, the characterization of raw materials to optimize decision-making in the food sector, the realization of the Scientist for a Day workshops in which students and teachers from public schools learned about technology and science through the STEM model in order to promote the country's next scientists, the study of 4 plants for the identification of metabolites of commercial interest for the cosmetics sector, and the construction of a platform to promote smart and inclusive mobility.

Together with MinTic, a project was developed focused on strengthening the country's business fabric through the appropriation of science and technology, in which the following specific activities were deployed:
 
1. strengthen the development of ICT solutions through the redesign of CEASs in Big Data and loT.
2. Centralize the offer of ICT services with the creation of a Digital Transformation Shared Services Center.
3. Promote ICT appropriation with the generation of solutions that respond to the needs of the productive sectors through the use of advanced technologies.
 
These activities are part of a strategy to turn Colombia into a benchmark for innovation and to make the country's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises more sophisticated, as a commitment to impact the quality of life of Colombians through technology.
We implemented TecDigital, the first virtual center of shared services of Advanced and Emerging Technologies for Digital Transformation in the country, which began the consolidation of the portfolio of advanced and emerging technologies (TAE) in a single platform, to support companies to meet the challenges of an increasingly digitized economy, through the adoption and appropriation of these technologies. AnalíTIC4 , the first Colombian Supercomputing Network, was also consolidated, dedicated to meeting the needs for the use of data generated by any government institution, academy and industry. Additionally, innovation projects were deployed with organizations in the productive sector, in which technologies such as artificial intelligence, BigData and data analytics were appropriated to generate a differentiating value that will allow them to be more disruptive and innovative in their processes and products; to compete in the national and international market under similar or better conditions than those of their competitors, not only in prices, but also in quality.

The idea of a Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in Colombia was born as a bet for the strengthening of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Signing of the memorandum for the creation of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology of Colombia - BIOS.

Consolidation of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology of Colombia BIOS.

Deployment of scientific research and technological development activities.

Arrival of high-performance computing infrastructure. Launching of the Center. Recognition as a technology development center.

Start of the execution of the royalties project "Caldas Bio-region". Recognition of the research group. Definition of emblematic projects.

Launching of the visualization room

Deployment of training, applied research, institutional articulation and entrepreneurship strategies.

Successful completion of the Caldas - Bio Region royalties project, recognized by the DNP as a national success story in terms of execution and fulfillment of objectives.

Strengthening of articulated work, with the implementation of applied research projects to respond to the country's needs in terms of environmental safety solutions, innovation of food, cosmetic and health products, increased agricultural productivity, pest and disease control, improved or new services for citizens, as well as the application of artificial intelligence to optimize human-machine processes, streamline biological data analysis processes and obtain valuable information, facilitating decision making and the construction of new solutions, among others.

BIOS carried out projects seeking to take steps towards technological appropriation, initiatives ranging from specialized training courses that gave professionals tools to develop new solutions, the deployment of a data analysis platform in health to prevent or treat certain diseases, the installation of an IoT network for the control of public space, the characterization of raw materials to optimize decision-making in the food sector, the realization of the Scientist for a Day workshops in which students and teachers from public schools learned about technology and science through the STEM model in order to promote the country's next scientists, the study of 4 plants for the identification of metabolites of commercial interest for the cosmetics sector, and the construction of a platform to promote smart and inclusive mobility.

Together with MinTic, a project was developed focused on strengthening the country's business fabric through the appropriation of science and technology, in which the following specific activities were deployed:
 
1. strengthen the development of ICT solutions through the redesign of CEASs in Big Data and loT.
2. Centralize the offer of ICT services with the creation of a Digital Transformation Shared Services Center.
3. Promote ICT appropriation with the generation of solutions that respond to the needs of the productive sectors through the use of advanced technologies.
 
These activities are part of a strategy to turn Colombia into a benchmark for innovation and to make the country's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises more sophisticated, as a commitment to impact the quality of life of Colombians through technology.
We implemented TecDigital, the first virtual center of shared services of Advanced and Emerging Technologies for Digital Transformation in the country, which began the consolidation of the portfolio of advanced and emerging technologies (TAE) in a single platform, to support companies to meet the challenges of an increasingly digitized economy, through the adoption and appropriation of these technologies. AnalíTIC4 , the first Colombian Supercomputing Network, was also consolidated, dedicated to meeting the needs for the use of data generated by any government institution, academy and industry. Additionally, innovation projects were deployed with organizations in the productive sector, in which technologies such as artificial intelligence, BigData and data analytics were appropriated to generate a differentiating value that will allow them to be more disruptive and innovative in their processes and products; to compete in the national and international market under similar or better conditions than those of their competitors, not only in prices, but also in quality.