The “Up to GATE. Technology, Big Data & Beyond. 5 Years of Innovation” international forum, held from November 20 to 24, 2024 at GATE, brought together scientists and leaders to discuss innovative solutions using modern technologies. The event marked the fifth anniversary of the institute’s founding and included discussions, masterclasses, and demonstrations of new technologies.
“You have the power to redefine the boundaries of what is possible. The Ministry of Education and Science will continue to be your partner and ally in the efforts to create a sustainable and innovative environment.”, said Prof. Galin Tsokov, Minister of Education and Science, in his official greeting to the forum.
Prof. Georgi Valchev, Rector of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” underlined that “Centers for excellence are the focal point of the entire intellectual thought that the Bulgarian scientific community possesses.”
“The work of GATE is crucial not only for the development of our city but also for the region.”, pointed out Ivan Goychev, Deputy Mayor for Digitalization and Innovation, and added that Sofia City Municipality is partnering with GATE on five data-related projects.
Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov, Chair of the GATE Board of Directors, emphasized that “GATE is home to over 50 talented researchers and has made a significant impact both nationally and across Europe.”
The achievements of GATE Institute were presented in the form of an interview of prof. Sylvia Ilieva, GATE’s Director, and the “SuperHuman” Georgi Nenov. “Leading a team that places Bulgaria at the forefront of technological development is my greatest achievement.”, stated prof. Ilieva when asked about her greatest achievement as a director.
The keynote speaker of the forum was Prof. Preslav Nakov, Professor and Department Chair for NLP at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. He is part of the core team at MBZUAI’s Institute for Foundation Models that developed Jais, the world’s best open-source Arabic-centric LLM, Nanda, the world’s best Hindi model, and LLM360, the first truly open LLM. the. His keynote “Towards Truly Open, Safe, and Factual Large Language Models” discussed strategies for ensuring that large language models (LLMs) remain safe and factual. The talk covered the safety mechanisms incorporated in Jais, the world’s leading open Arabic-centric foundation and instruction-tuned large language model. It also introduced additional initiatives from MBZUAI’s Institute on Foundation Models, such as LLM360, a truly open and transparent foundation model and examined the factuality challenges associated with large language models. The talk provoked an enormous interest of the audience and triggered a lively discussion.
The panels on the first day were focused on hot topics relating to value creation in data spaces, advancing urban sustainability through innovative technologies, AI regulations, and mobilizing AI against disinformation.
In Panel 1: The Future of Data Sharing – Opportunities and Value Creation in Data Spaces, the discussion explored how data spaces create value, featuring Bulgaria’s strides in developing nine data spaces in areas like smart cities and healthcare. Key contributions included solving privacy challenges in telecom and launching Bulgaria’s first urban data space.
Panel 2: Reimagining Urban Sustainability – Digital Twins and Data Spaces at the Forefront featured Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) and data spaces as technologies revolutionizing city planning. From flood management to interactive citizen tools, experts showcased innovative applications driving smarter, sustainable cities.
Panel 3: Anticipatory and Experimental Regulation of AI emphasized that adapting AI regulation requires bold experimentation. Insights included GATE’s new Experimental Regulation Lab and the potential of regulatory sandboxes to foster innovation while ensuring compliance.
Panel 4: Harnessing AI to Combat Misinformation featured AI as a key to tackling disinformation. Experts shared cutting-edge approaches using generative AI, industry insights, and citizen perspectives on combating fake news.
In between the panels, GATE researchers presented for the first time their “talking” 3D digital twin of Sofia, designed to support decision-making in areas such as mobility and energy efficiency. (See the video below)
On the second day, four workshops explored groundbreaking technologies driving smarter cities, governance, and healthcare.
Workshop 1: Hands-On Technologies for Urban Digital Twin Development dived into the transformative world of Urban Digital Twins (UDTs. The talks explored the tools and standards behind UDT implementation. Participants gained hands-on experience integrating and visualizing urban data to create smarter, more resilient cities.
Workshop 2: Urban Digital Twins – From Data to Decision Intelligence discussed real-world use cases of UDTs in urban sustainability focusing on tackling challenges like climate change and urban mobility; building livable, walkable cities with cutting-edge simulations, and designing eco-friendly transport systems using UDTs., among the others. Workshop 3: Intelligent Government & Disinformation explored language-specific tools for detecting disinformation in Bulgarian using AI and NLP. It revealed the disinformation trends in the 2024 Elections, examining their impact on democratic processes. Another focus was the monitoring of the Code of Practice, bringing policymakers and civil society together to address local challenges.
Workshop 4: Digital Health – Diagnostic & Prognostic Innovations presented two key tracks. The first one focused on EU Research in Digital Health, showcasing GATE’s role in Alzheimer’s early diagnosis through federated learning. The second demonstrated medical innovations, including real-time patient monitoring via hybrid learning algorithms and scalable data platforms.
The third day featured two masterclasses on AI regulations and combating disinformation. The first one How to Prepare for the EU AI Act? presented the new EU Artificial Intelligence Act and provided a hands-on guide to building a risk-based and ethically sound AI governance program.
The Combating Disinformation in the Digital Era masterclass focused on cutting-edge methods for detecting and combating disinformation. The course explored how to identify and manage disinformation using AI and digital tools and shared best practices and insights from leading European initiatives.
The second edition of the AEC Hackathon, co-organized by GATE, brought together over 50 participants grouped in multidisciplinary teams to examine real-world problems and propose solutions for the built-in environment.