European Big Data Value Forum 2025: Empowering Europe’s Future with AI and Data

As the flagship annual event of the European Big Data Value and Industrial AI Research and Innovation community, the EBDVF once again brought together industry professionals, business developers, researchers and policymakers from across Europe and other regions to examine developments, challenges, and opportunities in the evolving landscape of data-driven innovation.

This year’s edition attracted over 470 participants and was supported by 53 partners and sponsors. The programme included eight plenary sessions and 35 parallel sessions, along with 24 exhibition booths, among them the LDS, showcasing projects, technologies, and applied research results. Close to 180 speakers contributed to the discussions, offering insights from diverse sectors and institutional perspectives. 

The programme was organised into a series of horizontal and sector-specific tracks. The horizontal themes focused on cross-sector developments that will shape the technological and regulatory foundations of Europe’s digital transformation. Among these themes were Generative AI for innovation, the role and evolution of foundation models, trustworthy AI and data (including legal, ethical and technical aspects), value creation in data ecosystems, and AI and data for compliance. The vertical or sector-specific tracks addressed the practical implications of data and AI in strategic domains, including agri-food, energy, healthcare and pharma, security and defence, and smart manufacturing. Each track was led by specialists from industry and academia, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of Europe’s Data and AI ecosystem.

A significant moment of the conference was the two-part session “AI Factories, Data Labs and Data Spaces”. It examined how these three components can be brought together to create a coherent European AI and data ecosystem. Building on the European Commission’s AI Innovation Package from 2024, it highlighted the rapid establishment of AI Factories across the EU and their role as environments that combine computing power, high-quality data and specialised expertise to develop advanced AI models. The session focused on clarifying how AI Factories connect with upcoming Data Labs and existing Data Spaces such as the LDS in order to avoid overlaps and strengthen coordination across initiatives. It also addressed immediate challenges such as preparing AI-ready data, establishing robust data governance practices, and ensuring consistent data quality across the ecosystem.

The session “Empowering Europe’s Future with AI and Data: AI Factories and Gigafactories” provided a discussion on the present and future of Industrial AI in Europe, explored the anticipated impact of AI Factories and Gigafactories, and presented their developing value offer. CEO Andrejs Vasiljevs of LDS Partner Tilde shared his views during the panel and discussed how Data Spaces like the LDS play a crucial role in the AI Factory concept.