The data we use in our daily lives are becoming increasingly interconnected. Behind everyday actions like receiving a recommendation on a social network, making an online purchase and interacting with AI tools capable of linking concepts and knowledge, lie vast information networks that connect people, objects and ideas. To manage these connections, organisations use graph databases, a key technology in fields as diverse as social platforms, financial fraud detection and the knowledge systems powering many AI applications. As these networks grow to contain millions or even billions of connections, retrieving the required information quickly and efficiently becomes increasingly challenging.

In this context, the UPC’s inLab FIB— the innovation and research laboratory of the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB) at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC)— and Microsoft are jointly investigating advanced techniques to optimise these systems.

One of the major challenges in graph databases is predicting the best strategy to retrieve requested information and anticipating the data volume to be processed. When these estimates are inaccurate, system performance suffers and application response times can increase significantly.

The joint research project conducted by inLab FIB and Microsoft focuses on identifying the most suitable strategies to optimise system performance and develop solutions capable of managing increasingly large and complex data volumes.

Although this is an internal component that often goes unnoticed by the end user, improving these databases has a direct and highly significant impact on consumer technology. It translates into faster responses, a more efficient use of server computing resources and a greater capacity to scale up in response to new technological needs. The project highlights inLab FIB’s capacity to serve as a bridge between academic research and industrial innovation. The laboratory collaborates with internationally leading companies to tackle high-impact technological challenges. Through initiatives like this, it helps strengthen Barcelona’s emerging tech ecosystem by promoting knowledge transfer, attracting high-value projects and connecting university, research and industry to drive the technologies of the future.

inLab FIB and Microsoft have a long-standing history of collaboration in this field. This new research project, funded by Microsoft, has a dual objective: first, to develop technological improvements that represent a significant advancement in the state of the art, and second, to apply these results to the graph database products that Microsoft is currently developing.

The implementation of this project falls under the agreement between the University and Microsoft for the company to join the Connèxia UPC programme, which is designed to deepen the connection between cutting-edge academic knowledge and the business world. With an initial duration of three years, the agreement reinforces the long-term collaboration already shared by Microsoft and inLab FIB.