Japan has long been one of the world’s IT strongholds; if your company prevails there in that field, that holds some meaning. Itware is a Hungarian example of just that, whose connection with the Land of the Rising Sun dates back to 2008. Searching for new partners, the Japanese followed a simple rule: they looked at the number of Nobel Prize laureates for science per capita. Hungary tops the charts in that department, and since Itware already had an excellent track record by then, the partnership was a match made in heaven.
“You can make a mistake only once if you are in business with the Japanese,” senior sales manager Beáta Belovai tells the Budapest Business Journal. Evidently, their cooperation has been flawless, reaching a new level in 2021 with the first OCR and machine vision artificial intelligence-related order.
Today, ITware has built a remarkable portfolio of AI solutions, from large language models to machine translation to special training for software developers (ai4dev.net). Even so, Belovai believes that the lack of large-volume, cleansed data is still an issue that prevents many from joining the game.
“This is when you need to take two steps back to ensure that an appropriate amount of data is available that can actually be used for training purposes. Its origin also needs to be validated,” she explains.
The availability of computing power is another bottleneck. More importantly, the Cloud just won’t cut it when it comes to the kind of activities ITware pursues. The third factor that keeps executives from launching AI projects is uncertainty. ITware’s consultative training and consulting training (AI4DEV, AIClinic) are tailor-made for that very purpose help eliminate that bottleneck.
“It would make everything way too long; luckily, we can rely on the capacities of the HPC Competence Center established by the Governmental Agency for IT Development,” the expert says. She also stresses that AI is still in its infancy. “We are just scratching the surface; there is so much more to it.”
The market remains volatile, with high entry barriers. Furthermore, on the local level, only a few have the resources to invest. ITware’s Japanese connection gives them an edge. For instance, they can develop machine vision solutions with them.
Another source of pride is that the Japanese Ice Hockey Association has chosen the Sunbears application to provide training support, which contains AI components as well. The Sunbears Cloud Campus platform helps athletes and coaches alike by analyzing data gained during practice sessions and games.
The performance of companies like ITware couldn’t be more critical for a Hungarian economy that is currently stalling. One of the segments with the largest value-added, the ICT sector accounts for 5.4% of national GDP. According to a study by IVSz, the ICT Association of Hungary, a favorable government approach to cloud technology alone could result in GDP growth worth HUF 7 trillion (EUR 17.5 billion) in 10 years.
To be fair, Hungary’s competitiveness strategy does treat ICT as a priority. Objectives to be reached through 2030 include ensuring that Hungary is among the frontrunners in Europe in terms of value added by ICT manufacturing and that the investment ratio of industry 4.0 solutions exceeds 50%.
ICT might well be among the most crisis-proof sectors, but the recent past, overshadowed by the pandemic, the energy crisis, geopolitical conflicts and rampant inflation took its toll even here.
“Around 2020, there was a backlash. But the projects that were put on hold still exist. And they must be implemented; otherwise, we will lag behind in the global race,” Belovai notes.
The power of ecosystems can help if appropriately harnessed. ITware is a member of the Hungarian AI Coalition, the stakeholder platform for the local AI community. The firm uses its membership to share knowledge and learn from others. As Belovai explains, the company really wants to know about the success stories of competitors and how they get projects started.
“What distinguishes us is that we regard our competitors as partners. We believe that together we are stronger.”
Amidst the economic slowdown, this approach could be a game changer. ITware also continues to search for new opportunities.
“AI may be the very thing that can give new impetus to the economy. Technology is improving rapidly, and demand is on the rise. Everyone can benefit if they get onboard, and only those that refuse to apply it and acknowledge this development have something to fear,” the sales manager says.
The Digital Decade report of the European Commission found that, although the digital infrastructure in Hungary is considered above average for the EU, just 3.7% of local SMEs use AI-driven solutions. And that indeed calls for action. ITware is aware of the issue and has launched two courses to address it. The AI Clinic helps CEOs exploit the company’s data assets, which is crucial in taking any company’s operation to the next level. Another course targets coders, who are given the opportunity to learn how to use AI tools in their daily work to boost efficiency.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of September 20, 2024.
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