EUROPEAN LANGUAGE DATA SPACE - LDS Launch Conference in Villers-Cotterêts, France

The European Language Data Space marked a significant milestone with the successful hosting of its Launch Conference on 19 March 2025, at the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, France. This key event introduced the beta version of the LDS architecture to a diverse audience of stakeholders, data providers and consumers, underscoring the data space's potential to transform the exchange of language resources across Europe.

date: 09/04/2025

The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Edouard Geoffrois, director of the newly established ALT-EDIC, and Philippe Gelin, Head of Sector Multilingualism at DG/CONNECT at the European Commission, setting the stage for discussions on the collaborative efforts behind the LDS initiative. Following the introductions, key presentations explored the architecture and components of the LDS ecosystem. Georg Rehm, Coordinator of the LDS, provided an overview of the marketplace designed for sharing and monetising language data. Stelios Piperidis (ILSP “Athena”) elaborated on the technical framework of the data space, while Khalid Choukri (ELDA) addressed aspects related to the governance structure and data protection in the LDS.

Attendees of the event also had the opportunity to get insights from the user perspective of LDS, presented by representatives of the companies expert.ai, Lingsoft, CrossLang, and Pangeanic, who shared their initial experiences with the LDS connector and their requirements and wishes for the development of the marketplace. These interventions were followed by an interactive Q&A session, moderated by Georg Rehm, that facilitated dynamic discussions and provided attendees with the opportunity to engage directly with experts.

Another highlight was a presentation by Savvas Rogotis (BDVA, DSSC), who introduced the role of the Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC) in building the broader data space ecosystem. His discussion underscored the synergies between the LDS initiative and the DSSC as well as other data spaces in the wider European data-sharing environment.

For those who could not attend, the full event recording is available on the event page, offering an opportunity to explore the comprehensive discussions and presentations from the conference. As the LDS moves forward, stakeholders are encouraged to engage with the initiative, contribute to and benefit from this collaborative effort to enhance Europe's linguistic and cultural diversity in the digital age.