The European Language Data Space aims to create a trustworthy and efficient marketplace for the exchange of language resources in both the private and public sectors, in line with the European Data Strategy. To achieve this goal, LDS is organizing a series of national workshops across Europe to demonstrate how technology companies can monetize and share their language data in a multilingual Europe, where AI-based applications and language technologies play an increasingly significant role.

The event in Sofia was targeted at companies and experts working with language data, artificial intelligence, IT, and robotics, as well as researchers, data creators, and developers of language technologies.

GATE was represented by the Intelligent Government (iGov) and Data Spaces teams, as well as by Prof. Sylvia Ilieva, Director of the Institute, who chaired the expert panel “Language Data Production and Management: Overcoming Obstacles.”

In her remarks, Prof. Ilieva emphasized the importance of establishing a national data governance policy and raised key questions regarding the distinction between open and public data, the existing legal frameworks for access, and incentives for data sharing. She called for coordinated efforts among institutions to unlock the potential of language data as a national asset, describing data as “the new gold of the digital era.”

The institutes research teams presented their concept for a “Narrative Atlas” — an AI-powered system designed to detect and analyze manipulative narratives and disinformation within the Bulgarian language environment. The team explained how the system could be integrated into the European Linguistic Data Space, providing reliable, structured, and reusable data for journalists, policymakers, and developers of AI-driven tools.

The workshop concluded with a shared message: collaboration and open exchange of language data are key to building a resilient, multilingual, and innovation-driven European data ecosystem.