Big Data
for Smart Society

The GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” has been awarded the prestigious annual “ACADEMIC PROJECT OF THE YEAR” prize during the international conference InfoSec SEE 2026 – the largest cybersecurity event in Southeast Europe. The award recognizes the leading role of the GATE Institute in the development of big data and artificial intelligence technologies, as well as the institute’s high level of expertise in building reliable and secure digital ecosystems. The practical orientation of its scientific research and its successful implementation in solutions of public significance – supporting industry, the public sector, and the digital resilience of society – also contributed to the recognition. The award is presented annually by the InfoSec SEE organizing committee to an academic...

GATE Institute is one of the 12 partners in the European project “European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness”, funded under the Digital Europe Programme.

On April 27, 2026, the final event of DisInfoHack 2026 took place at the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The initiative is a research hackathon dedicated to information resilience and countering disinformation. The event brought together 46 students who, over the course of one month, developed and presented analytical projects addressing real-world cases from today’s information environment. DisInfoHack is being held for the third consecutive year and is part of the activities of the research project CoDE, which focuses on analysing the information environment in Bulgaria and developing sustainable approaches to tackling disinformation. The format of the so-called “slow hackathon” provides opportunities for in-depth team collaboration, mentorship, and the application of scientific methods in the study of...

On April 22, the event “AI-Driven Growth: Scaling Business Internationally in the AI Era” took place at Sofia Tech Park, bringing together experts and organizations to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on global business expansion. Among the co-organizers was the GATE Institute, reinforcing its role as a key driver of innovation in Bulgaria. During the forum, the Institute’s Director, Prof. Sylvia Ilieva, presented GATE’s vision for the future of smart cities, highlighting the importance of digital twins as a tool for more intelligent and adaptive urban management.