The panel will explore the opportunities that data spaces offer for unlocking value within the data economy. Featuring experts from diverse fields, the discussion will emphasize how active engagement in data-sharing ecosystems can deliver substantial benefits to a wide range of stakeholders, including businesses, governments, and individuals. The session aims to reveal the various ways in which data spaces can foster innovation, enhance collaboration, and open new revenue streams. The speakers, bringing their unique perspectives and real-world experience, will share valuable insights on the current landscape of data spaces, as well as their potential to shape the future.

Panel Objectives:

• Explore the benefits of data spaces for businesses and society: Explore how data spaces can drive new opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and revenue across various industries, highlighting the positive impact they can have on businesses, governments, and everyday life.
• Highlight the importance of data-sharing ecosystems: Discuss why the data-sharing ecosystems are essential for a connected, data-driven economy.
• Provide insights on emerging trends and future developments: Offer expert perspectives on the future of data spaces, including upcoming standards and technologies, policy changes, and industry shifts that will shape the evolution of data-sharing practices and the broader data economy.

Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) and Data Spaces have emerged as game-changing paradigms, facilitating the planning and development of sustainable cities. This panel session invites you to undertake a journey into the future of cities, where UDTs are central to creating smarter, more resilient, and environmentally conscious urban surroundings. It will showcase the dynamic interplay between UDTs and Data Spaces, exploring how they can revolutionise planning, designing, and managing our cities.

Key Discussion Points:

• Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds: Understand UDTs create digital replicas of cities, reflecting real-time data from sensors, infrastructure, and citizens to support data-driven decisions towards sustainable cities and communities.
• UDTs and Data Spaces synergy: Showcase the dynamic interplay between UDTs and Data Spaces, exploring how they can revolutionise planning, designing, and managing our cities.
• Scaling UDTs Globally: Examine how UDTs can be scaled to different cities worldwide. Discuss challenges related to data standards, interoperability, and adapting UDTs to varying urban contexts.
• Public-Private Collaboration: Highlight the importance of collaboration between governments, private sectors, academia, and citizens in harnessing the full potential of UDTs. Discuss successful models of partnership.
• Future Directions: Envision the future of urban development with UDTs and Data Spaces at its core. Explore their hidden potential in fostering better urban planning and decision-making.

This panel will delve into the cutting-edge concepts of policy prototyping, experimental regulation, regulatory sandboxes, and the auditing and governance of AI systems. The discussion will centre on the opportunities and challenges of anticipatory and experimental regulation, emphasising the role of testing and experimentation in creating evidence-based regulation. This panel will also discuss the activities of the newly established GATE Experimental Regulation and Policy Lab and its sandbox environment.

Panel Objectives:

• Explore the concept of policy prototyping: Discuss how policy prototyping can be used to test and refine regulatory approaches before they are implemented on a larger scale.
• Examine experimental regulation: Analyse the benefits and challenges of experimental regulation, including the use of regulatory sandboxes to foster innovation while ensuring compliance and safety.
• Discuss regulatory sandboxes: Highlight the role of regulatory sandboxes in providing a controlled environment for testing new technologies and business models.
• Audit and governance of AI systems: Address the importance of auditing AI systems and how experimental environments can support this activity to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in their deployment.
• Create evidence-based regulation: Emphasise the role of testing and experimentation in developing regulations that are informed by empirical evidence and real-world data.

This section on the panel will focus on the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and large language models (LLMs) for detecting and mitigating misinformation and disinformation. It will explore the latest advancements in AI technologies that enable rapid identification of misleading content, the ethical implications of AI use in this context, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among stakeholders to enhance media literacy and critical thinking. Additionally, the panel will address the potential risks associated with AI-generated misinformation and the need for transparent policies to safeguard against misuse, ultimately aiming to foster a more informed society through effective AI-driven solutions.

Panel Objectives:

• Explore the concept of policy prototyping: Discuss how policy prototyping can be used to test and refine regulatory approaches before they are implemented on a larger scale.
• Examine experimental regulation: Analyse the benefits and challenges of experimental regulation, including the use of regulatory sandboxes to foster innovation while ensuring compliance and safety.
• Discuss regulatory sandboxes: Highlight the role of regulatory sandboxes in providing a controlled environment for testing new technologies and business models.
• Audit and governance of AI systems: Address the importance of auditing AI systems and how experimental environments can support this activity to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in their deployment.
• Create evidence-based regulation: Emphasise the role of testing and experimentation in developing regulations that are informed by empirical evidence and real-world data.

Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) transform how cities are planned, monitored, and managed. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the fundamentals of UDT, focusing on technologies, tools and standards for its implementation. Designed for city planners, engineers, developers, and data scientists, the workshop aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the UTD building blocks. Participants will gain hands-on experience with key digital twin solutions, learning how urban data from diverse sources is structured, integrated, analysed and visualised to describe, diagnose and predict city behaviours to support informed decision-making towards resilient cities and smart communities.

Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) have emerged as powerful tools in pursuing sustainable urban development. This engaging workshop provides a deep dive into the real-world Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) use cases, showing how they reshape the future of our cities. It unveils their potential by showcasing case studies inspired by rapid urbanisation, climate change and resource management. Participants include urban planners, architects, data scientists, and technology enthusiasts, all united by a common goal: to contribute to overcoming the challenges faced by the cities of tomorrow.

Key Discussion Points:

• Urban Digital Twins in Action: Explore how the UDTs continuously evolve and mirror real-world changes, addressing challenges related to data interoperability and integrating various digital tools.
• Sustainability and Climate Resilience: Discuss how UDTs are pivotal in achieving city sustainable goals. Explore their role in reducing air pollution, fostering an eco-friendly urban environment and mitigating the impact of climate change.
• Liveable Urban Spaces: Explore how UDTs aid in designing cities prioritising quality of life. Discuss the creation of 15-minute walkable cities and pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods.
• Enhancing urban mobility with UDTs: Uncover the role of UDTs in improving urban mobility, reducing carbon footprint, and integrating sustainable transportation options. Learn how UDTs can model and simulate future mobility trends, helping cities design efficient, accessible, and eco-friendly transport networks for all.

This workshop will be in three parts, dealing with three specific and strategic areas of research for the GATE Institute and the Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory on Digital Media (BROD).

Part 1: LANGUAGE SPECIFIC RESOURCES AND TOOLS FOR DETECTING DISINFORMATION
We will explore the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the development of automated tools for identifying false or misleading information. As misinformation continues to proliferate across various platforms, particularly social media, the need for effective detection mechanisms has become increasingly critical. This workshop will delve into the methodologies and technologies that can be employed to combat disinformation, particularly in the context of the Bulgarian language.

Part 2: DISINFORMATION TRENDS AND ELECTIONS IN 2024
Our aim is to critically analyze the evolving landscape of disinformation in the context of national and European elections in 2024 in Bulgaria. As disinformation continues to pose significant threats to democratic processes globally, this workshop will focus on understanding its implications specifically within the Bulgarian political environment. Participants will explore the various forms of disinformation that have emerged in recent electoral cycles, examining how these tactics can influence voter behavior and public opinion.

Part 3: MONITORING THE CODE OF PRACTICE ON DISINFORMATION
This workshop aims to bring together stakeholders, including policymakers, local moderating bodies, and civil society organizations in Bulgaria, to discuss and evaluate the implementation of the Code of Practice. It seeks to address the specific challenges and opportunities related to disinformation within the Bulgarian context, focusing on local moderation practices and policy implications. By fostering dialogue and sharing best practices, the workshop aims to enhance understanding of disinformation dynamics, promote accountability in online platforms, and ensure that local policies align with EU standards to effectively combat the spread of false information.

Track 1: Multidisciplinary and Multinational EU Research and Innovations in Digital Health
Digitalisation asks for Multidisciplinary and Multinational research and innovations in the health field. The first track of the workshop is dedicated to critical projections of the EU's vision of Bulgaria's healthcare organisation and practice and the current GATE projects in the field. First, we present the critical priorities for developing the national healthcare system in light of the EU's vision in the field. For the second topic, we focus on the current international, multidisciplinary EU GATE project VELES as a showcase for excellence and the role of GATE in it. We present the design and findings of the GATE pilot feasibility study for early diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease within the VELES project. Further, we show the federated learning opportunities, which will be implemented within the pilot.

Track 2: Medical Innovations via Digital Platforms & Intelligent Algorithms
The digital era poses specific scientific challenges, particularly in health and healthcare. The second track of the workshop is dedicated to data and innovation opportunities. First, we pay attention to data collection, access, and scalability, which enables complex scientific research, data collection, processing methodologies, and acquired knowledge in healthcare. The data is in the hands of healthcare providers, so our first focus is on them. The second topic we focus on is real-time data processing, particularly Innovative Hybrid Learning Algorithms. We call them 'hybrid' because they allow unsupervised and supervised learning, which is essential in medicine. At the same time, these algorithms are adaptive and provide a methodology for reinforcement learning, repeatedly increasing the quality of detections. Third, we focus on sensors for real-time patient information collection and innovative algorithms for continuous patient monitoring while adhering to high ethical standards. The detection part of these algorithms may use the adaptive learning schema mentioned above.

Academia's relevance extends beyond theoretic developments and fundamental science alone. Academic and research institutions have the true potential for generating disruptive technologies and solutions. This requires a living connection to be established and nurtured with industry, the government and the broader community as whole to bridge research and real-world applications.

This workshop will present GATE’s vision for how such a connection can be put in place and maintained and what is the role of GATE’s laboratories to achieve this vision.

The leads of the City Living Lab, the Experimental Policy and Regulation Lab and the Digital Twin Lab sit down to discuss how GATE labs can serve as a gateway to scientific rigor, knowledge-based development, transparent operations and evidence-based regulation for all levels of stakeholders.