The GATE Institute, together with the Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC), organized a specialized workshop dedicated to presenting the concept of data spaces, their benefits, and real-world scenarios for their use across different sectors. The event brought together representatives of key organisations from Sofia and the region, including the public sector, industry, and the technology ecosystem.

Bulgaria is part of the Horizon Europe FINEX project, which aims to strengthen cooperation across European innovation ecosystems and improve access to environments where cleantech and deep-tech solutions can be tested and validated. A central activity in the early stages of the project has been the creation of a cross-regional database mapping testing and experimentation spaces. For Bulgaria, this process provided a clearer overview of the national landscape and shed light on both existing capabilities and areas where further development could support cleantech innovation.

The Horizon Europe project FINEX is helping to strengthen the conditions for testing and deploying cleantech innovations, supporting Europe’s wider goal of accelerating the green and digital transition. The project brings together partners from six countries, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus, with the aim of improving how innovation ecosystems collaborate and how new technologies can be validated in real or simulated environments.

The GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” unveiled new horizons for science, innovation, and technology during the international forum Up To GATE 2025: New Horizons, which brought together leading Bulgarian and global experts in artificial intelligence and data. Special guest speaker was Prof. Noboru Koshizuka – one of the most prominent figures in the global scientific community in the fields of IoT, smart cities, and artificial intelligence. He presented for the first time worldwide his new concept “Urbanetics”, integrating research domains such as AI, data spaces, smart cities, and the Internet of Things.

One day before the start of the international forum UpToGATE 2025: New Horizons, the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Infrastructure Application of Ubiquitous Computing (Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies) at the University of Tokyo – one of the most prestigious research institutions in the world. The event was attended by Prof. Reneta Bozhankova, Vice-Rector of Sofia University, H.E. Marieta Arabadjieva – Ambassador of Bulgaria to Japan, as well as representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria.

The GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” welcomed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev.

Simeon Karpuzov, a researcher at the GATE Institute, received the grand prize at the 23rd edition of the entrepreneurship competition held during the European Day of the Entrepreneur 2025.

On November 27, within the framework of the international forum “Up To GATE 2025: New Horizons,” the GATE Institute will give a stage to one of the most important topics for the future of technologies – how regulations can be a driver, and not a brake, on innovation.

The panel “From the Laboratory to the Market: How Can the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Support the Development of Artificial Intelligence?”, from 11:30 to 12:30, promises a conversation that goes beyond dry rules and documents and enters the essence of how Europe imagines its AI future through the idea of innovation for the benefit of people. The discussion will move beyond the usual headlines and focus on the real question – how we turn good intentions and ambitious policies into solutions that reach the market and improve our everyday lives.

Representatives of the GATE Institute – Prof. Sylvia Ilieva, Prof. Desislava Petrova-Antonova, Irena Petrova and Eleonora Getsova – took part in the European Big Data Value Forum (EBDVF) 2025, held from 12 to 14 November in Copenhagen.

From 5 to 7 November, the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” hosted the Sofia Information Integrity Forum 2025 — an international event dedicated to strengthening trust in information and countering manipulation in the digital environment.