Proposed workshops are expected to run for 60 or 90 minutes, although longer formats may be considered. The number of workshops selected will depend on the volume and quality of submissions. Where multiple proposals address closely related topics, the Data Week Programme Committee may recommend the consolidation of sessions.

Across all themes, workshops should contribute to strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy in data and AI, while responding to the needs of both industry and the public sector. Proposals may be sector-specific or cross-sectoral and should clearly outline pathways to impact, deployment and adoption across European value chains. Particular emphasis is placed on the involvement of SMEs and start-ups, their contribution to innovation and market uptake, and on industrial perspectives that connect research and experimentation with real-world implementation. Where relevant, workshops are also encouraged to address international cooperation, promoting interoperability, standards alignment and global collaboration in data and AI.

Part of the programme is being constructed based on an open call for workshops or contributions, targeting the BDVA community but open to all organisations interested in engaging with the BDVA activities. BDVA members, BDVA Task Forces, Data and AI Projects, and other collaboration partners are invited to submit proposals. We invite workshop proposals within the broad scope of BDVA activities, with a special emphasis on topics that advance our Strategic Agenda, strategic priorities, BDVA Task Forces, objectives, and collaborative initiatives. In particular, we welcome contributions that align with the goals and themes of the AI Continent Action Plan and the Data Union Strategy, as well as those that build on and extend the insights in our latest BDVA position papers. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Data for AI ecosystems, frameworks, tools and access (Data4AI)
• DataLabs
• Compliance and reporting
• European data spaces and interoperable data infrastructures
• Integrated AI lifecycle and infrastructure
• Industrial AI
• AI models and model ecosystems (including foundation models, domain-specific and industry-tailored models, multimodal models, and model adaptation and reuse)
• Trustworthy, responsible, and human-centric AI
• AI in Science
• Privacy-enhancing technologies, synthetic data, and secure data processing
• Evolution of data analytics (including e.g. advanced and augmented analytics, real-time and streaming analytics, analytics for AI systems, data-centric AI, …)
• Next-generation AI and Big Data architectures, including agentic AI systems, distributed and federated AI, edge–cloud–HPC continuums, and emerging scalable and energy-efficient Big Data and AI architectures
• Quantum technologies, data and AI
• Emergent topics on data and AI
• Experimentation environments
• Skills, education, and talent development
• Privacy-enhancing technologies, synthetic data, and secure data processing
• Policy and standards implementation for AI and data
• Business models, value creation, and market uptake
• Digital Twins
• Virtual Worlds

How to apply 

Fill out this online form !

Timeline  

• Call for workshops: 19 January – 9 February (12 PM CET – midday; CLOSED REGISTRATION) 
• Communication of results (tentative): 2 March
• All workshops are expected to be confirmed, fully described and online by 16 March

Criteria for selection 

Data Week 2026 Programme Committee will select the sessions to be added as a part of the event programme. For optimising the chances of getting selected, make sure your application ticks these boxes: 

• Synergies and collaboration (sessions building synergies with other communities, bringing together several projects and/or BDVA Task Forces, etc.) 
• Relevance/added value of the session/workshop (why is your session relevant for the topic) 
• Audience engagement during the workshop  
• Contribution to BDVA Strategic objectives and BDVA Task Forces

More information

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at dataweek@bdva.eu 

We are looking forward to your proposals.

The post Data Week 2026: Call for workshops and contributions! appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Regulatory leadership, however, does not automatically translate into market dominance. The long-term strength of Europe’s AI ecosystem will depend on whether its governance framework can be matched by scalable investment, the retention and attraction of top-tier talent, and the effective creation of a genuinely unified market for data and innovation.

Europe enters this phase with notable strengths. It benefits from a deep and diversified industrial base, particularly in safety-critical sectors such as healthcare, finance and advanced manufacturing. The region is also recognised globally for its research leadership in AI ethics, explainability and risk governance. Early exposure to the AI Act offers European companies a potential first-mover advantage, positioning them as credible global suppliers of responsible, transparent and secure AI systems.

These advantages, however, are offset by persistent structural weaknesses. Europe’s AI ecosystem remains fragmented along national lines, complicating scale-up and cross-border deployment. A chronic shortage of late-stage venture capital continues to limit the ability of European startups to grow into global competitors. This funding gap, combined with the outward migration of skilled AI professionals to North America and parts of Asia, poses a significant challenge to Europe’s long-term competitiveness. At the same time, reliance on external providers for critical layers of the AI technology stack exposes the region to strategic vulnerabilities and systemic risks.

The outlook is therefore one of conditional opportunity rather than guaranteed success. For Europe to capitalise on its regulatory lead, governance must function as a catalyst for innovation while safeguarding fundamental rights, rather than as a bureaucratic constraint. Achieving this balance will require a more holistic strategy that goes beyond legislation alone.

Key priorities include mobilising capital at scale to close the growth-stage funding gap, simplifying and supporting compliance for small and medium-sized enterprises, and making sustained investments in the computing and data infrastructure that underpins modern AI. High-performance computing, interoperable and unified data spaces, and accessible shared resources will be essential foundations for future innovation.

Equally important is the need to retain and attract AI talent through targeted research funding, competitive incentives and clear career pathways. Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity also represents an underexploited asset, particularly in the design of AI models suited to multilingual and multicultural contexts. International cooperation will play a central role, with partnerships among like-minded global actors helping to advance shared standards, research agendas and innovation outcomes.

If these priorities are executed effectively, Europe has an opportunity to align its ethical values with industrial capability. In doing so, it could consolidate a distinctive position in the global AI landscape — not simply as the world’s most comprehensive regulator, but as the leading hub for trustworthy, competitive and values-based AI.

If you are interested in etami, keep in mind that BDVA’s Task Forces meet regularly, discussing the latest updates from the ecosystem, collaborating on publications and organising events. Check out BDVA’s activities and make sure to stay tuned!

The post Trustworthy AI and the EU AI Act: Market Analysis appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

“Data for AI” has long been a priority area for the BDVA community and formed a core element of its responses to these European Commission initiatives. These contributions were published in the papers Towards a European AI-Data Value Ecosystem and Data at the core of Europe’s Digital Strategy.

Building on this work, the BDVA community has identified an urgent need to evolve the traditional concept of data products. While existing data products focus largely on packaging and sharing datasets for general use, they are not sufficient to meet the specialised requirements of AI systems. BDVA therefore introduces a new paradigm: AI-ready Data Products.

A newly published paper consolidates past and ongoing discussions within the community on how the “Data for AI” paradigm can be embedded into data product approaches. It sets out a pathway for redefining data products so that AI practitioners can fully harness the value of data within increasingly complex data ecosystems. By doing so, it aims to position these ecosystems as strong enablers of AI innovation, capable of delivering industry-ready solutions tailored to advanced AI applications.

According to BDVA, this represents the first systematic attempt to adapt the data product concept to the specific needs, constraints and practices of AI development. The work identifies several key requirements. These include revisiting the data product lifecycle to incorporate AI-specific elements, particularly richer and more extended metadata; addressing technical challenges related to data quality, preparation techniques and metadata models suited for AI consumption; and supporting both static and dynamic data products aligned with AI workflows.

The paper also highlights the need to strengthen governance and compliance frameworks, including ethical considerations, regulatory alignment, standards, and licensing and contractual aspects relevant to AI models and AI-ready data products. To support adoption, the community calls for a readiness framework that captures these broader requirements and provides practical guidance.

The convergence of data management best practices, modern data product principles and AI-specific needs is seen as a highly promising route towards truly AI-ready data products. BDVA emphasises that further exploration, cross-disciplinary collaboration and validation are required. The community plans to continue this work internally, including the release of an updated version of the paper in 2026, while also expanding the dialogue with external stakeholders such as other associations, standardisation bodies, policymakers, industry actors and AI communities.

Ultimately, BDVA aims to translate these initial concepts into concrete standards, tools and methodologies that can be deployed across sectors. By doing so, the community seeks to contribute to the successful implementation of the European Data Union Strategy and to the creation of an integrated European AI–data value ecosystem that effectively links infrastructure, data, AI, skills, regulation and innovation.

The post New BDVA publication: AI-ready Data Products appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

RAISE was officially announced at the AI in Science Summit held in Copenhagen in early November and represents a significant milestone in strengthening AI-enabled scientific research across Europe. The initiative aims to bring together data, computing resources, expertise and funding to accelerate the uptake of artificial intelligence across all scientific domains.

In her announcement, European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva highlighted the SCIANCE consortium as having been positively evaluated and invited to enter grant preparation. She underlined the strategic role SCIANCE will play in shaping RAISE through a bottom-up, community-driven approach that mobilises Europe’s leading research and digital infrastructures, organisations and networks — including BDVA.

Within SCIANCE, BDVA will contribute its recognised expertise in data, AI innovation ecosystems and industry–research collaboration. Its involvement will help ensure strong alignment between AI-in-science priorities, data-driven innovation and European policy objectives, reinforcing the link between scientific research, technological development and socio-economic impact.

RAISE is conceived as a European virtual institute to support scientists in developing and applying AI for transformative discoveries. As a flagship initiative under the European Strategy for AI in Science, it is designed to position Europe as a global leader in AI-enabled research.

SCIANCE (AI in Science) will support the development of RAISE and coordinate AI-enabled scientific research across Europe across five pilot areas: fundamental physics and astronomy, materials science, life sciences, earth sciences, and social sciences and humanities. The project will also identify research and innovation priorities and pilot the future RAISE Secretariat. Key outputs of SCIANCE will include a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for AI in Science, an implementation roadmap for infrastructure upgrades, and the establishment of the RAISE Secretariat to support long-term collaboration and capacity building.

The SCIANCE consortium brings together 13 leading European organisations and research infrastructures: ESF, EGI Foundation, OpenAIRE AMKE, CNR, Euro-BioImaging ERIC, EMBL, CU, MU, UT-ITC, Nikhef, DFKI, SZTAKI, and BDVA.

BDVA is both glad and proud to be part of SCIANCE, as it is dedicated to strengthening coordination and the strategic direction for Artificial Intelligence in Science across Europe. SCIANCE brings together leading scientific communities, research infrastructures, AI centres of excellence and policy stakeholders to establish the foundations of the Resource for AI in Science in Europe (RAISE). Through a comprehensive landscape analysis and an inclusive co-creation process, the project will develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and a roadmap to identify priority scientific challenges where AI can accelerate discovery, while promoting open, trustworthy and sustainable AI approaches and improved access to data, computing and research infrastructures.

BDVA believes that progress in Data and AI depends on strong connections between research, innovation, industry and policy. Our participation in SCIANCE reflects our commitment to fostering a sustainable European Data and AI ecosystem, supporting excellence in research, and ensuring that strategic agendas are informed by real-world innovation dynamics and European values. By contributing our experience in ecosystem building and cross-sector coordination, BDVA supports SCIANCE’s ambition to align scientific excellence, technological capabilities and societal impact, helping to shape a coherent and future-oriented European framework for AI-enabled science.

The post BDVA to contribute to European AI in Science! appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Over 470 participants took part in 43 high-level plenaries, sessions, panels and parallel sessions over three days. 180 speakers were featured in the programme, which was organised based on themes from a sectorial and cross-sectorial angle. EBDVF benefited from the support of 53 sponsors.

EBDVF brings together industry every year professionals, business developers, researchers and policy-makers from all over Europe and other regions of the world to advance policy actions and industrial and research activities in the areas of Data and AI. Organised by BDVA in collaboration with DTU – Technical University of Denmark and SDU – University of Southern Denmark, this flagship event is the premier event of Europe’s data and AI industry-driven research and innovation community. The theme of EBDVF 2025, Empowering Europe’s Future with AI and Data, highlights Europe’s ambition to harness data and artificial intelligence. Data and AI are a key driver of economic growth, competitiveness and innovation, delivering tangible benefits such as better healthcare, cleaner and safer transport, new products and services and progress in sustainability and energy efficiency, which can reinforce Europe’s position in the global data economy.

The EBDVF programme covered burning topics within the European Data and AI ecosystem in over 40 sessions, touching on the present and future of Industrial AI in Europe. We found out how AI Factories and Gigafactories will revolutionise our continent, learning more about their value offer. Many different sessions were linked to the AI Continent Action plan and the European Data Union Strategy. EBDVF covered topics such as Generative AI and agents, interoperability and AI value creation, with sessions examining how these technologies can transform both European industry and the public sector. The forum highlighted how data spaces are becoming central to the European data and AI ecosystem.

You are kindly invited to download the EBDVF 2025 report HERE. 

EBDVF 2025 promoted initiatives and set the ground for growing collaborations and partnerships, through a close and powerful industry-research-policy collaboration with a focus on challenges and opportunities of Data and AI considering the technological, societal and economical aspects. To achieve those purposes, we gathered in Copenhagen high-level industry professionals, top business developers, researchers and policymakers from all over Europe and other regions of the world to support policy actions and industrial and research activities on the cutting edge of technological advancements.

BDVA is open to welcome new members within the European Data and AI community!

Learn more about our members and activities. You can contact us anytime at info@bdva.eu.

The post EBDVF 2025 report! appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Its launch comes at a pivotal moment for the sector. The global virtual worlds market, valued at €27 billion in 2022, is forecast to exceed €800 billion by 2030, underscoring both the scale of opportunity and the need for coordinated investment.

The European Partnership for Virtual Worlds will support advances in research, innovation, standardisation and skills development, while fostering the uptake of virtual world technologies across multiple application domains. A core objective is to reinforce Europe’s technological autonomy and ensure that future developments respect EU values and fundamental rights. The partnership will be supported by €200 million in EU funding under Horizon Europe for 2025–2027, to be matched by at least €200 million from Virtual Worlds Association members. Together, these investments aim to strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem and secure a competitive and values-driven position in the global digital landscape.

Find out more

BDVA is looking forward to collaborating closely with the VW Association, establishing strong links between data, AI and Virtual Worlds. Our association is also part of OPENVERSE, a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), funded under Horizon Europe programme, rooted in the ambition to elevate the EU landscape, responding to the global tech competition and fostering technological sovereignty. BDVA is helping to connect Europe’s Virtual Worlds ecosystem, having a very active role in the OPENVERSE Community Hub, a dynamic and inclusive network of stakeholders operating at the intersection of Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0, grounded in European values and supported by a framework of ethics and trust.

The post EC launches the European Partnership for Virtual Worlds appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Congratulations to the appointed Directors 

• Freek Bomhof – TNO, Netherlands 

• Edward Curry – Insight Centre, Ireland 

• Davide Dalle Carbonare – Engineering, Italy 

• Valerio Frascolla – Intel, Germany 

• Stefan Gessler – NEC Laboratories, Germany 

• Jozef Geurts – Inria, France 

• Thomas Hahn – Siemens, Germany 

• Michalis Kefalogiannis – Cosmote Telecom – OTE Group, Greece 

• Laure Le Bars – SAP Technology & Innovation, France 

• Till Lech – SINTEF, Norway 

• Jeanette Nilsson – RISE, Sweden 

• Shane Ó Seasnáin – VITO, Belgium 

• Aljosa Pasic – Eviden, Spain 

• Fernando Perales de Mingo – JOT Internet Media España SL, Spain 

• Antonis Ramfos – Athens Technology Centre, Greece 

• Daniel Saez Domingo – ITI, Spain 

• Joaquín Salvachúa Rodríguez – Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain 

• Robert Seidl – Nokia, Germany 

• Rob Smeets – Philips, Netherlands 

• Richard Stevens – IDC, Italy 

• Tuomo Tuikka – VTT, Finland 

• Stefan Van Baelen – imec, Belgium 

• Andrejs Vasiljevs – Tilde, Latvia 

Together with Dolores Ordóñez – AnySolution, Spain and Fabrice Tocco – Dawex, France the BDVA BoD counts as per today with 25 members (10 Large Entreprises, 5 SMEs and 10 members representing Research and Academia) 

Members were also called to appoint a President and Vice-presidents, renewing the 2-year mandate for Thomas Hahn (Siemens) as President, for Laure Le Bars (SAP) as Vice-President for industry and for Edward Curry (Insight) as Vice-President for research. 

BDVA would like to thank all candidates for these elections!

BDVA would also like to express its gratitude to all the members of the Board who have served over the last few years and will not be continuing: Juan Bernabé-Moreno (IBM), Maria Pérez (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid) and Dominique Grelet (Eviden). We want to thank them for their contributions and dedication.  

The post BDVA Board of Directors Updates appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Full members:

• Cyfronet (Academia/Research)
• F6S Network (SME)
• KoçDigital (Large Industry)
• Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS) (Other)
• University of Copenhagen (Academia/Research)

Associate members:

• Bloodstone Consulting (SME)
• Cogninn (SME)
• DIHGIGAL (Association)
• FEAK (Other)
• EKSO(SME)
• JRC Capital Management (SME)
• Orcawise (SME)
• Systematika (SME)

We also sadly saw some members leaving, but we are happy to announce that we are keeping a steady net growth over the years, and we are proud to state that the Association is over 250 members.

BDVA members are at the forefront of Europe’s Data and AI economy and together foster excellence in Data and AI research innovation for competitiveness. We want to thank our members, including our newest additions, for their commitment through their dedication, supporting our shared aspirations, contributing to our Task Forces and injecting with content and value our collaborations with other associations and the policy makers.

Find out more about BDVA’s membership

There are two types of membership: Full Members and Associated Members.

• Full Members can participate in all the activities of the Association, have full voting rights and can be elected to be part of the Board of Directors. Full members enjoy all the benefits of the Association.
• Associated Members can participate in the activities of the Association without voting rights.

Membership applications are reviewed and can be provisionally approved by the Board of Directors of BDVA. Final approval of membership is granted by the BDVA General Assembly.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at info@bdva.eu.

Apply for BDVA membership now!

The post Welcome to new BDVA members! appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

The Data Union Strategy is aimed at increasing the availability of data for artificial intelligence (AI), simplifying EU data regulations and reinforcing Europe’s position in international data flows. AI is visibly transforming economies across sectors, providing new solutions and opportunities for businesses and citizens alike. To remain competitive on the global stage, the EU says it must ensure AI has access to high-quality data. The Data Union Strategy seeks to unlock the potential of European data and complete the Single Market for data, in line with President von der Leyen’s priorities.

The strategy is expected to benefit businesses, researchers, consumers and finally, societal development. Companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will gain simpler and more cost-effective access to datasets and lower compliance costs. Researchers will have access to high-quality data to train AI systems, while consumers could see new services and innovations emerge more quickly.

The EU has set out three priority areas under the strategy:

Scaling up access to data for AI – The Commission plans to launch and invest in data labs as a key resource to bridge data and AI ecosystems, and to scale-up data spaces prioritising sectors of public interest including a defence data space, with around €100 million in EU investment. High-value datasets, digitised cultural objects, synthetic data, data quality and EU data production will also be promoted.

Streamlining data rules – Modernising EU data laws via the Data Act aims to reduce compliance costs and simplify processes. Companies will be supported through model contracts, standard clauses for cloud computing and a dedicated legal helpdesk.

Safeguarding EU data sovereignty – The strategy seeks to protect Europe’s digital assets while ensuring secure, fair cross-border data flows. Guidelines will be issued to assess the treatment of EU data abroad and tools will be developed to prevent data localisation, leaks, or misuse of sensitive non-personal data.

Many of the priorities, principles and recommendations highlighted by the European Commission reflect the insights from BDVA community projects, papers, strategic documents, as well as recent activities in workshops, Task Force activities and most certainly from our events, such as the recently concluded EBDVF 2025. Numerous BDVA members are also deeply involved in the DataLabs initiative, which has been a major focus for many over the past several months. As a reference to the strategic documents, you are invited to explore BDVA’s input to the European Data Union Strategy, BDVA’s response to the AI Continent Action Plan: Towards a European AI-data value ecosystem and other relevant community papers such as Elevating Data Quality A Paradigm Shift for Data Spaces and AI Needs, AI Factories and the data challenge: access, acquisition and usage of data. Connection to data spaces, as well as the upcoming “AI-ready Data products” paper (teaser in our blogs) or the latest healthcare TF paper Synthetic Data in Healthcare paper (as synthetic data is another BDVA-related topic addressed in this strategy).

The Data Union Strategy reinforces the value of collective efforts and reaffirms the importance of BDVA’s long-term commitment to fostering a trustworthy, innovative and competitive European data and AI ecosystem. It also further consolidates our role as a key interlocutor, as the next phase of implementation unfolds.

BDVA hereby thanks all of its members for their continued engagement, expertise, and valuable contributions, as their work has helped to shape the strategy and will be essential as we now move forward to help realise its ambitions together.

The post Data4AI: the spotlight of the European Data Union Strategy appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.

Take a look at 1000 photos from EBDVF 2025, in our dedicated Flickr account!

The theme of this year’s EBDVF 2025, Empowering Europe’s Future with AI and Data, highlighted Europe’s ambition to harness data and artificial intelligence and showcased 180 speakers, all highly relevant actors of our ecosystem. Data and AI are a key driver of economic growth, competitiveness and innovation, delivering tangible benefits such as better healthcare, cleaner and safer transport, new products and services and progress in sustainability and energy efficiency, which can reinforce Europe’s position in the global data economy.

The EBDVF programme covered burning topics within the European Data and AI ecosystem in 8 plenary sessions and 35 parallel sessions, touching on the present and future of Industrial AI in Europe, we found out how AI Factories and Gigafactories will revolutionise our continent, learning more about their value offer. Many different sessions were linked to the AI Continent Action plan and the European Data Union.

EBDVF touched upon Generative AI and agents, interoperability and AI value creation, with sessions examining how these technologies can transform both European industry and the public sector. The forum also highlighted how data spaces are becoming central to the European data and AI ecosystem. We were able to find out the latest innovations in manufacturing, healthcare, energy, compliance, urban mobility, security and defence.

We want to thank our 53 partners and sponsors, who presented their innovations and services in 24 booths, placed throughout the exhibition space. A huge thank you to our EBDVF Platinum sponsors/partners Siemens, COSMOTE-TELEKOM, NEC Laboratories Europe and EGI Foundation!

The BDVA i-Space Ceremony was an important highlight of our event, closing Day 2 of EBDVF. The i-Space label is a quality standard that serves as a benchmark, supporting organisations in their growth and enabling them to achieve their ambitions of expanding their networks and increasing their impact. The entities that have obtained the i-Space label make up a community of 33 hubs across 22 countries in Europe, creating unique opportunities for collaboration and the development of synergies. Today, the i-Spaces community is a large European network of federated hubs promoting data innovation and AI experimentation, all based on secure data-sharing and computing infrastructures.

On the 13 November, during the i-Spaces ceremony, the Commissariat à l’energie atomique et aux énergies alternatives and poltextLAB were officially welcomed within the community by BDVA President Thomas Hahn and BDVA Vice-president Laure Le Bars. DIHGIGAL, already a BDVA i-Space, was granted a label of a new tier – the Platinum BDVA i-Space label, as a result of the progress that the organisation made, especially in relation to their participation in the European projects.

We will now start uploading the event presentations to the event website and will keep you informed once all the materials are available. So, stay tuned!

Meanwhile, we would kindly like to ask you to please complete the EBDVF 2026 survey, which was sent via email to all participants.

We want to thank you for joining our dynamic data and AI community in Copenhagen, we really hope that you have enjoyed our matchmaking and networking opportunities and last, but not least, that you had fun!

We look forward to welcoming you to EBDVF 2026 next year in Galway, Ireland, from 30 September – 1 October❗ Until then, don’t forget to check all of the EBDVF 2026 photos❗

The post EBDVF 2025 ended, photos available! appeared first on BDV Big Data Value Association.