The event took place on 9th February 2023 and was held under the motto “The benefits of data spaces and how we can realize them in the Urban Data Space”. Speakers were Prof. Dr. Silvia Ilieva, Director of GATE, Prof. Dr. Desislava Petrova-Antonova, “Future cities” Research group Lead and Irena Pavlova, Manager of European projects and programs at GATE.

The workshop presented ways to generate value in data spaces for the various participant roles and discussed the specific benefits and barriers to realizing value for each of the workshop participants and their respective organizations. Future steps and topics for new meetings were also mapped out.

On November 9, 2022, upon an initiative of GATE, the first Urban Data Space in Bulgaria was officially launched, where different organizations can share and access data for developing new business products and improving services in the city.

Among the first more than 15 members of the Bulgarian Urban Data Space are various organizations such as the National Statistical Institute, Sofia Development Association and Sofiaplan, business representatives such as Overgas, CNSys, Kontrax, Rila Solutions, Telelink Business Services and Senstate, and the non-governmental organizations For the Earth, One Tree, Airbg.info and Data for Good. This initiative aims to promote innovation by using the opportunities offered by the development of the data-based economy.