The two parties declared their will to cooperate in research related to exploration and creation of methods for Digital Twin development and assessment; in education – organisation of joint educational programmes, workshops, training and seminars, as well as in staff exchange and collaborative projects.

On behalf of the two parties, the document was signed by prof. Sylvia Ilieva, Director of the GATE Institute, and prof. Dr Freek van der Meer, Dean of the Faculty Geo-information and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente.

“I am happy that we are extending the cooperation between Sofia University and the University of Twente with GATE Institute and the Faculty Geo-information and Earth Observation (ITC). It is my pleasure and honour to sign this Memorandum of Understanding”, said prof. Ilieva.

“I am excited to sign this MoU as it stems from a real collaboration. We share knowledge and data, organise workshops. Working together is success”, pointed out prof. Van der Meer.

The ceremony was part of a joint webinar focusing on innovative AI-driven methods supporting Digital Twins. The webinar comprised of two sessions. Within the first session assoc. prof. Desislava Petrova-Antonova, Research group lead at GATE Institute, presented the City Digital Twin Pilot Project. The researchers of the Twente university shared information about their work on related topics.

The second session discussed use cases related to the application of AI-driven methods in support of Digital Twins. The researchers Stoyan Boyukliyski, Radostin Mitkov and Peter Hristov presented the work done at the GATE Institute. The PhD candidates Wufan Zhao and Yue Ying introduced the latest results from work on their theses at ITC.

More than 70 participants attended the event.