A major Spanish university is procuring IT services to add AI, interoperability and mobile access to its research management tools, mirroring a wider EU shift.
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A leading Spanish university is seeking external IT support to add artificial intelligence, stronger interoperability and mobile access to its SIRA research management applications, signalling a new phase in how academic institutions handle the administration of research.
On 26th December 2025, the Universitat de Barcelona – Oficina de Contratación Administrativa published a contract notice for IT services for the SIRA research management applications. The university plans to hire an external provider to develop new functionalities rather than replace its existing systems.
The notice sets out three clear priorities:
Research management platforms such as SIRA typically support tasks like project tracking, grant administration, reporting and documentation of outputs. By focusing this contract on new features, the university is signalling that its current applications are well established but need to evolve to keep pace with how research is organised and evaluated.
The explicit reference to artificial intelligence marks the contract out from many other public‑sector IT procurements. While the notice does not specify which AI capabilities are required, integrating AI into research management systems generally opens the door to tools that can work across large volumes of project and publication data, support decision‑making, or help staff complete administrative workflows more efficiently.
Interoperability is the second major theme. In research settings, this often means enabling systems to exchange data with other internal platforms or with external partners. For SIRA, improving interoperability could make it easier to align data across finance, HR and research offices, or to interface with national and international research information systems. The notice does not detail the target systems, but the emphasis underlines the importance of connectivity in modern research administration.
The third strand, mobile device adaptation, reflects how far research activity now depends on remote access. Researchers and professional services staff expect to consult project information, approve workflows and update records from phones and tablets. Optimising SIRA for mobile use is therefore less about novelty and more about ensuring the research system fits into everyday working patterns.
The contract notice does not set out the value or duration of the deal, so the eventual scale of the upgrade remains unclear. But even in outline, the combination of AI, interoperability and mobile access shows that the university views research management software as strategic infrastructure rather than back‑office plumbing.
The Barcelona project sits within a broader trend of universities investing in specialist systems to manage research and related academic activity.
In December 2025, Jagiellonian University in Poland launched a contract for IT services for a scientific information system. That project focuses on creating a comprehensive system for managing scientific information using DSpace‑CRIS technology. Like SIRA, it aims to give a consolidated view of research activity, but is framed around publications and outputs rather than the full research life cycle. Taken together, the two contracts show how research‑intensive universities are building dedicated platforms rather than relying on generic administrative tools.
Also in December 2025, the Rectorado de la Universidad de les Illes Balears issued a prior information notice for a maintenance service for its SIRA information and research management system. That notice highlights the need to support research activities and ensure proper functionality and updates. While its scope is maintenance rather than new development, it underlines that SIRA‑branded systems are in active use at more than one university, and that long‑term upkeep and updating are now part of the core research support function.
Beyond research‑specific platforms, universities are modernising wider academic administration. In October 2025, the University of Economics in Bratislava published a contract for an information system to manage the study agenda and academic‑administrative processes. That project stresses user comfort, information security and interoperability with existing systems, echoing many of the same priorities found in Barcelona’s SIRA upgrade.
Some institutions are going further, outsourcing not just individual systems but whole swathes of IT operations. In July 2025, the Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie sought a contractor for comprehensive IT services, covering server and network resources, software management, coordination with external suppliers and technical support for employees. And in August 2025, the University of Szeged moved to establish a dynamic procurement system for IT products and related services for educational and research purposes.
Against this backdrop, Universitat de Barcelona’s decision to focus its latest contract on new SIRA functionalities – especially AI and mobile adaptation – shows a willingness to refine and extend an existing research platform rather than rebuild everything from scratch. It also suggests that, for this institution, research management tools are now mature enough for targeted enhancement contracts.
The Barcelona notice also mirrors a broader move across European public bodies: shifting from one‑off system roll‑outs to ongoing improvement of established platforms.
In December 2025, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development launched a contract for modification and expansion of its Development Services Database. That project requires analytical, programming, testing and installation work, together with warranty service, to enhance functionalities and integrate new processes. The pattern is similar: a core system is already in place, but policy and operational needs have evolved, demanding further development rather than replacement.
In October 2025, the Ministry of Finance in one EU member state published a contract for support and development services for its IS MONITOR system. The supplier is expected to provide regular support, on‑demand development, defect resolution and an exit plan when the contract ends. Here, evolution and lifecycle management are built into the procurement from the outset.
Other notices echo the same logic. In November 2025, Greece’s Central Union of Chambers sought maintenance, user support, error correction and development services for its IMS and e‑IMS systems. And in September 2025, Croatian IT provider APIS IT d.o.o. advertised a contract for software maintenance and development services, covering modifications, added functionalities, consulting and training.
Universitat de Barcelona’s SIRA contract, centred on developing new features including AI integration, fits neatly into this trend. Rather than treat research management as a fixed system delivered once, the university is procuring specialist services to keep its tools aligned with changing expectations from researchers, funders and managers.
Across this set of recent procurement notices, explicit references to artificial intelligence remain rare. Many buyers emphasise interoperability, information security, user experience and agile delivery, but few name AI as a contractual objective. The Barcelona SIRA upgrade stands out in doing so.
In public administration, AI functions in information systems are often used to assist with repetitive tasks, improve search across large document stores, or surface patterns in complex datasets. In a research management context, this might include helping staff navigate project portfolios, flagging missing information or supporting reporting cycles. The SIRA notice does not commit to any particular use case, but by specifying “artificial intelligence integration” it signals that the university expects its research system to support smarter as well as faster working.
Similar pressures can be seen in other corners of the public sector, even where AI is not mentioned directly. In October 2025, for example, the City Council of Santander in Spain sought a contractor to provide IT support and advice on e‑administration and municipal application integration. And that same month, the Deutsche Bundesbank advertised for external specialists to support its central IT department, focusing on innovation management, communication for digitisation, cloud engineering and agile coaching. In each case, organisations are investing in capabilities that can accommodate more data‑driven, automated ways of working over time.
The SIRA contract at Universitat de Barcelona is concise, and many implementation details – from budget to timeline and specific technologies – are not yet public. But the combination of AI integration, interoperability improvements and mobile adaptation places it at the leading edge of current research administration projects.
As universities in Spain and across Europe roll out new research and scientific information systems, attention will turn to how far these platforms can ease administrative workload and improve the visibility of research activity. The evolution of SIRA at Barcelona, and the planned maintenance of SIRA at the University of the Balearic Islands, will be key developments to watch for anyone tracking how AI and digital services are reshaping the back office of European research.
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