EBDVF 2025 tool place in Copenhagen last week and included insightful talks, engaging panel discussions, and several networking opportunities. Key topics discussed the importance of EU data spaces and sovereign AI models, AI factories, the current state of quantum computing and quantum machine learning, and the various aspects of standards and compliance in the use of data beyond research.
The event attracted over 450 participants, had a total of 180 speakers, and 24 exhibition booths. The audience included academic and industrial researchers, (research) project managers, communication experts, European Commission, and local policy makers.
A call for strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem
From the opening talks to the discussion sessions, the main message was clear: Europe’s sovereign data platform and AI Factories will enable the creation of local, reliable, and trustworthy AI applications in all domains – from health-care to manufacturing, mobility, and critical infrastructures. This impressive infrastructure is being built and deployed through various Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programme projects, and are enabling SMEs and large corporations in strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem to become more competitive, while promoting trustworthiness, data privacy, and the fair use of data. Along with policy and strategic talks, the program also included a number of more tangible talks from EU-funded projects. Martel delivered a solid contribution with a technical, yet practical, presentation with Alice Piemonti on the use of generative AI to build intelligent knowledge bases, showcasing the contribution of Martel in the HORSE Project. For our team, this event was also an opportunity to meet potential project partners and plan the 2026 calls. With special focus on the April deadlines, a number of promising opportunities were identified with past and new contributors.
A number of new AI Factories were announced, along with their satellite units (called AI Factories Antennas). AI Factories will provide organizations with readily available GPU computing capacity in the years to come, ensuring Europe’s competitiveness in AI and data technologies. Furthermore, as we are approaching the end of the current Framework Programme, no other major announcements were made at the event but can expect novelties to be presented from 2026.
Martel’s contribution to EBDVF 2025
Martel brought an interesting perspective in the session “Generative AI and Agents for European Industry and Public Sector Transformation”, showcasing how we are shaping the future of trustworthy, AI-driven cybersecurity through the HORSE project. The session gathered companies pushing the boundaries of generative AI, from agentic customer service systems to automated incident reporting and video generation tools, highlighting how rapidly the field is evolving. Within this landscape, Alice Piemonti, AI Engineer at Martel Lab, presented the HORSE Common Knowledge Base, a cutting-edge cybersecurity database that uses generative AI to enrich and evolve attack–mitigation datasets. The talk demonstrated Martel’s technical leadership in building secure, high-quality AI systems aligned with European values. The panel discussion that followed explored many AI related topics, such as Europe’s dependency on non-EU AI technologies, sparking a vibrant exchange that reinforced the importance of sovereignty, compliance, and innovation. Martel’s contribution stood out as a concrete example of how EU-funded research can deliver impactful, forward-looking solutions in an area as critical as cybersecurity.
Every year, EBDVF unites Europe’s innovators, policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders around one challenge: the future of responsible data use. This gathering has become essential as organizations across sectors navigate the complexities of data governance, privacy, and AI. Martel brought a distinctive contribution this year, our technical expertise spans the entire data value chain, from highly sensitive medical IoT devices to advanced machine learning models, enabling us to drive both technical and policy discussions at the intersection of innovation and responsibility. And the talk about the HORSE project showcased the maturity of our Lab in AI development and cybersecurity. Whether you are exploring advanced data solutions, scaling federated learning architectures, or seeking partners who understand both the technical and regulatory landscape, our team is positioned to help. Looking to shape data and AI strategy?
Reach out to our team to explore solutions or discuss partnerships on upcoming calls.
