This is performed in a way that allows stakeholders to decide on their own or on joint post-crisis recovery actions.

The CAT platform is developed by an interdisciplinary team headed by the Director of GATE Institute Prof. Silvia Ilieva and including some of the best economic analysts in Bulgaria – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krasen Stanchev from Sofia University, Department of Public Administration, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Market Economics (IME), GATE CAT Development Manager; Dr. Krassimir Lakov (analyst and economist); Dr. Evgeni Raykov from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Department of Finance (analyst); researcher Dimitar Chobanov (analyst), Institute of Economics and Policy at the University of National and World Economy; and Dr. Valentin Pavlov, Head of Technical Implementation at GATE.

 “As an institute with the main mission to provide solutions based on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, we have built a platform to process and present empirical public information from various institutional organisations. On this basis, our team of economic analysts provide forecast assessments by industry, which in turn can help the decision-making of government and businesses  being aware of the current situation and in the long run”, explained Prof. Silvia Ilieva, Director of GATE . “Our goal is to create a tool for stakeholders by providing information with assessments that would help them take certain steps for investment and recovery after the economic crisis.”

The methodology is classical and represents an interface between micro- and macroeconomic indicators, including fiscal ones, based on employment and added value, and modified to work for the current and atypical picture, resulting from blocked human activities.

Quantitative information are parameters of economic development for (at least) a year before the pandemic; the starting indicators for tracking the dynamics are derived from them. Qualitative data is the assessment of reference data, and the current forecast will depend on changes in statistics on what is happening in a given industry and in politics and economy, in general.

“Thanks to the information gathered, we can provide assessments and forecasts for market behaviour and development. Based on this perspective, the government and individual businesses will have a forward-looking and a long-term picture that can help them make decisions by industries and incomes, including at macro level for some industries, and on the basis of verifiable expectations for economic recovery. The advantage of the platform and evaluations is the empirical basis of monitoring and analysis. The latter provide information and an opportunity for timely updating of the data, which is announced by institutions, government and/or guilds and think-tanks “, adds Dr. Krasen Stanchev.

More about the platform COVID-19 Activity Tracker`

Key features of the enRichMyData toolbox include:

• Tools for data discovery via browsing or full-text search
• A secure data access system
• Advanced data manipulation and cleaning functionalities
• Semantic enrichment of structured and semi-structured data
• Configurable services for structured data extraction and document classification
• Infrastructure for linking services and executing custom data enrichment pipelines
• Support for editing and reusing entire data enrichment pipelines
• Assistance for streaming datasets
• A green dashboard to calculate environmental impact

During the initial phase, the project partners conducted in-depth research to specify technical and market requirements, leading to the design of a robust reference architecture for the enRichMyData toolbox. The nature and current state of development of the tools provided within the project’s scope are considered. Furthermore, the reference architecture is defined for each stage that identifies the components involved, artifacts, and data flows. Particular attention has been paid to enabling Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) at the architectural level by design.

To demonstrate its practical applicability, the enRichMyData toolbox is being applied to six diverse business cases spanning digital marketing, manufacturing, predictive maintenance, public procurement, innovation ecosystems, and mineral processing. Each case has detailed technical specifications aligned with specific key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling the validation of the toolbox’s effectiveness across various domains.

Furthermore, the project has prioritized collaboration and ecosystem building by engaging with relevant European research and innovation projects such as DataCloud, GraphMassivizer, and UPCAST. Joint sessions and dissemination seminars have facilitated discussions on common technology challenges and approaches, fostering a robust community of stakeholders, including innovators and application developers.

As the project progresses, enRichMyData remains committed to advancing the field of data enrichment, driving innovation, and empowering businesses to leverage their data effectively.

For more information about the enRichMyData project, please visit enRichMyData

About enRichMyData:

enRichMyData is a collaborative project funded by the European Commission aimed at developing a comprehensive toolbox for data enrichment pipelines. Through innovative tools and infrastructure services, enRichMyData seeks to democratize access to data enrichment processes and empower businesses across various sectors. enRichMyData is coordinated by SINTEF AS (Norway), one of Europe’s largest independent research organizations. The project partners include companies such as Phillips (Netherlands) and Bosch (Germany), dedicated to engineering and manufacturing; Spend Network (Estonia), a provider of procurement data; JOT Internet Media (Spain), a digital marketing company; CS Group (Romania), a software services company; Expert AI (Italy), a technology company specialized in natural language understanding; and Ontotext (Bulgaria), a semantic technology company. They will have the full support of the research partners that, in addition to SINTEF, include the University of Milano Bicocca (Italy), Jozef Stefan Institute (Slovenia), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), GATE Institute (Bulgaria), and BGRIMM Technology Group (China).

The project is implemented by the Sofia University’s Faculty of Economy and Business Administration, Faculty of Philosophy and GATE Institute in partnership with the Institute for Information and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Foundation European Software Institute, and the technological companies Identrix, Webcentric and Contipso, as well as representatives of the public, to create a network for cooperation and innovation in the field of the information.

The implementation of the project will go through 3 stages. In the first year, analysis and conceptualization of the main aspects will be carried out, information flows will be defined and stakeholders will be identified. In the second year, guidelines for the rationalization of new knowledge are supposed to be presented to stakeholders. In the final phase, optimization and demonstration of the achieved results will be carried out.

Direct stakeholders of the project are society as a whole, media organizations, academic institutions, the non-governmental sector and public organizations, representatives of business and state institutions.

The project is financed by the “America for Bulgaria” Foundation. After its successful completion, the information environment analysis ecosystem will seek to institutionalize and continue to work in accordance with the set business model and development strategy.

The CoDE project team believes that with its implementation, it will contribute to strengthening society against the harmful phenomena observed in relation to information, creating a more secure and informed community. Project activities in Bulgaria are of key importance for the protection of public opinion.

Additional information about the CoDE project can be found at: https://iict.bas.bg/code/

The models that succeed are just like GATE – hot, very important scientific topics at the front of world science in collaboration with one of the best in the world – Chalmers University of Technology. And on the other hand, this fundamental science is used for applications that are useful for all of us,” Prime Minister Acad. Nikolay Denkov noted.

“GATE is an example of sustainable cooperation in the transfer of technological knowledge and experience. It is built on the basis of concrete results, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel. – You turn scientific achievements into practical solutions of social benefit. You show that being a visionary is not enough. I believe that the new high-tech infrastructure and the GATE building will be a key factor in the development of a sustainable research culture in Bulgaria. I believe that it will give the opportunity to thousands more Bulgarian talents to realize their ideas on home soil.

Today’s event invites us to be open to innovation. To surpass the boundaries of creativity that we have drawn, to participate in the development of an inclusive environment – an engine for creating innovations of global importance, she added.

The director of GATE, Prof. Silvia Ilieva, presented the achievements of the Institute, highlighting the role of the 49-member international team of researchers and experts. She emphasized the goal of the organization – to be a driver of change in the national research and innovation system, to create a unique research environment that will put Bulgaria on the map of Europe and work on problems of public importance. As a way to achieve this goal, she noted the cooperation with over 250 partners from Bulgaria and Europe, the participation in European initiatives, in over 20 national and international projects, the creation of over 85 publications in renowned publications and the first Master’s program ” Big Data Technologies” together with the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of the Sofia University.

“Today’s event is significant, because it shows the political will to put Bulgaria on the map of Europe, it shows the energy and the desire to show how technology can work for the benefit of society”, the rector of SU “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Prof. Georgi Valchev.

The Chairman of the Board of GATE and until recently rector of SU, Prof. Anastas Gerdzhikov, expressed his pride that Alma Mater participates in all the Centres of Excellence in the country. He thanked the researchers and Prof. Ilieva, “who dealt with all the problems during the construction of the new building, for which I congratulate her”.

Among the official guests of the event were also Konstantin Pavlov, mayor of the Lozenets district and Prof. Georgi Vayssilov, executive director of the executive agency “Education Program”, representatives of the European Commission.

After the official opening of the building, the event continued with the annual GATE Forum, whose first visionary session presented the trends of development of Data, Artificial Intelligence and Data Spaces. Prominent international experts and business leaders participated in it, including representatives of the Ministry of Innovation and growth, Big Data Value Association, Chalmers University of Technology, European Observatory for Digital Media, etc.

The two-day event also features thematic panels on ‘smart’ industry, urban digital twins, digital health, disinformation and GATE’s initiatives as a NATO test centre. Part of the program is a workshop for the city digital twins, as well as demonstrations and poster sessions that reveal the results of GATE’s work on various projects.

Thematic sessions are dedicated to the role of data sharing and artificial intelligence in the development of smart industry, digital health and future cities. The conference also focuses on countering disinformation at the local and regional level, as well as GATE’s functions as a test center for new dual-purpose technologies within NATO’s civil-military Defense Innovation Agency (DIANA).

From December 8 to 10 within the framework of the forum “Up to GATE. Technology, Big Data & Beyond. Open Up for Innovation” GATE institute will host the GATE-AEC Hackathon Sofia together with the organizers of the biggest hackathon in this field – AEC Hackathon (Architecture, Engineering and Construction Hackathon). The first event of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, supported by this community, will promote the connection between information technology, global experts and representatives of companies working in the fields of architecture, construction, mobility and urban planning, with the final expected result being the solution of specific case studies related to the development of the urban environment.

To support the initiative, a communication by the European Commission is planned for this year: it will announce the objectives and the proposed way forward for the EMDS. Specifically, it will describe the main features, objectives, governance, milestones and supporting measures for the EMDS.

deployEMDS is a project that aims to support the European Union’s digital sovereignty, notably by reinforcing EU critical digital capacities involving the preparation of a data infrastructure, governance, and processing. Building upon the groundwork laid by the preparatory action PrepDSpace4Mobility, the deployEMDS project’s primary objective is to deploy an operational data space and common governance mechanisms.

This data space will facilitate decentralised, trusted and secure data sharing. The project will actively support real-life implementation projects in nine cities and regions, including Barcelona (ES), Île-de-France (FR), Milan (IT), Lisbon (PT), Flanders (VLO), Sofia (BG), Stockholm (SE), Tampere (FI), and Budapest (HU). These initiatives will focus on developing innovative services and applications while assisting in policymaking through the sharing and reuse of data.

The launch event in Barcelona will officially kick off the collaborative work for the project consortium and set the course for the initial months of the project.

Lucie Kirstein, Project Coordinator at acatech, has expressed enthusiasm for the start of the project. “We are excited that we will now be able to demonstrate the data space concept in practice with so many important cities and regions across Europe. This will be an important basis for understanding the benefits of a currently very abstract concept and support local stakeholders in taking a step further in their thinking and urban data practices and governance”, says Ms Kirstein.

[1] EC, https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13566-Transport-data-creating-a-common-European-mobility-data-space-communication-_en

deployEMDS will contribute to the further development of the common European mobility data space announced in the Data Strategy and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, built and operated in full compliance with existing EU legislation in the mobility and transport sectors.

It contributes specifically to the long-term policy objective to build “a genuine single market for data”.

The project consortium comprises 38 members and 7 associated partners from 11 EU countries and is coordinated by acatech. The three-year project will run from 1 November 2023 until 31 October 2026.

The event was opened by Todor Tagarev, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria and Bozhidar Bozhanov, Chairman of the Committee on Electronic Government and Information Technologies in the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. They emphasized the importance of the topic of disinformation and gave examples of global disinformation campaigns such as the one about the war in Ukraine. According to Minister Tagarev, there is no tool developed at the state level to counteract manipulative content, and therefore “the main way to deal with disinformation is strategic communications.” The Ministry of Defense does not have a sanctioning mechanism against disinformation. However, it has developed a strategy to counteract the so-called hybrid war, since, according to Colonel Dobril Radoslavov, disinformation is only one of the methods of external intervention and manipulation.

One of the highlights of the forum was the existing and necessary regulatory framework to counter the spread of false content. In this context, Vasil Velichkov (Sensika) presented the requirements of the Digital Services Act and how it will be implemented in Bulgaria.

Todor Galev (Center for the Study of Democracy) examined the mechanisms and technological means that turn fake news into a profitable business. He also proposed solutions to “demonetise” disinformation – increased financial controls on websites and online advertising platforms to comply with fiscal and tax legislation, as well as regular monitoring of content falling under the EU’s restrictive measures.

Of particular interest was the research and analysis of techniques for presenting misleading content during the local elections in Bulgaria (Todor Kiryakov, Devora Kotseva, A Data Pro), as well as the study of public sentiments towards the adoption of the euro and the spread of propaganda “for” and “against” the European currency (Keith Kiely, GATE Institute).

In the technology session, Identrics, Ontotext and Sensika presented their technology solutions and tools to detect and combat disinformation. Irina Temnikova, (GATE Institute) presented the results of a project of the Institute for the automatic detection of traces of purposefully distributed false information in text format in Bulgarian on social media. The toolkit includes trace detection of both targeted disinformation written by humans and deepfake generated.

The forum ended with a lively discussion.

This project has received funding from the European Union under Contract number: 101083730 — BROD. This document reflects the views only of the independent Consortium, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.

Researchers argue that “regulatory action under the Digital Services Act is urgently needed in order to protect and encourage transparent and representative, large-scale research into disinformation. Otherwise, the corrosive effects of disinformation will continue and events such as the upcoming EU elections will undoubtedly be targets for disinformation campaigns across the continent”.

The main purpose of the Code is to enable a co-regulatory environment for the industry in its efforts against online disinformation. As we know disinformation’s corrosive effect on public discourse has been growing steadily as can be observed in high profile examples such as Brexit, the Cambridge Analytica revelations and the election of President Donald Trump, the COVID pandemic, and the Russian war in Ukraine.

The current analysis covers different periods which were determined by the data provided by the companies themselves. The data provided generally reflects the final quarter of 2022.

The CoP contains three main pillars – Advertising and political advertising; Integrity of the Services; Empowering Users, Empowering researchers & Empowering Fact-Checkers. Researchers have based their methodological approach on another international collaborative study led by EDMO Ireland and the German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory (GADMO) to the evaluation of the information provided by the VLOP and VLOSE.

The aggregated results show that for advertising, companies’ responses were the weakest. In relation to providing more options to consumers, the most data were given. However, this does not increase clarity and transparency.

Researchers are calling for harmonization and standardisation of data reporting formats and methodology, as well as a common infrastructure for data processing. This is especially important for EU member states with smaller linguistic and computational resources such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia.

The study also recommends measures to improve the transparency and quality of reports provided by the corporations.

Researchers emphasize that in general, there is a need for more detailed data, as well as clarification of the methodology by which the data was processed and collected by VLOPs and VLOSE. In general, the companies’ answers lack the necessary clarity and depth, and doubts arise about the verifiability of the information, specifically at the country level. It is often claimed that some measures are yet to be taken and thus no data has been provided. The researchers also make a number of important technological recommendations to facilitate data processing, as well as recommendations for actions that need to be undertaken by the European Commission in order to improve VLOP and VLOSE compliance with the Code.

The GATE Institute is the coordinator of the European Commission’s project BROD, which is developing a regional hub for Bulgaria and Romania for the detection of disinformation. It is working together with other national and regional  centers across the EU, under the coordination of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).

The paper by the GATE researchers  appears alongside the European Commission’s report about Digital Services Act and application of the risk management framework to Russian disinformation campaigns; the summary report of the public consultation on the DSA Transparency Database, as well as the assessment report of Irish and German hubs of EDMO.

The full document is available HERE

This project has received funding from the European Union under Contract number: 101083730 — BROD. This document reflects the views only of the independent Consortium, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.

VELES includes 15 partners from 7 countries, with a focus on Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Cyprus. Partners from Sweden, Spain and Germany will participate in the process of transfer of experience and good practices. Beside GATE, the project includes another three Bulgarian participants –   Ministry of Electronic Governanceр Telelink Business Services EAD, and Health & Life Sciences Cluster – Bulgaria.

The four-year project is funded by the Horizon Europe program. It was launched on June 28-29, 2023 in Sofia. The project kick-off meeting was hosted by the Ministry of e-Governance. In his welcome to the participants, Mr. Boycho Popov, director of the Strategic Communications Directorate, emphasized that the Ministry is a natural partner in such projects in view of the open and spatial data policy and sees in this an opportunity to accumulate knowledge, experience and good practices in the field of smart healthcare. “Today we are embarking on a transformative journey that could help change the landscape of innovation and progress in our industry,” said Mr. Popov.

VELES develops novel methodologies and pilots to enable new collaboration opportunities and smart health innovations. These include a research and investment strategy, as well as an action plan for the development and adoption of secure and innovative digital solutions that support the delivery of sustainable healthcare services. VELES will showcase the capabilities of the Regional Smart Health Data Space through the implementation of four interconnected pilots focusing on cancer treatment (Greece), Alzheimer (Bulgaria), cerebral tumors (Romania), and dementia (Cyprus).

As VELES’ consortium embarks on this transformative journey, it aspires to reshape the smart healthcare landscape of South-East Europe, revolutionizing healthcare practices, boosting the uptake of innovative technologies and ultimately improving the well-being of the region’s population.

In 2022, after applying to the International Secretariat of NATO, the GATE Institute was selected as a test center in the field of big data and artificial intelligence. As part of the DIANA network (a network of administrative, test and analytical centers to help find solutions to critical transatlantic security technological challenges by making collaboration between industry, start-ups and academia even closer), it will host innovators from the entire Alliance to test their developments for evaluation, validation and verification purposes.

During the information day, the director of GATE – professor Dr. Silvia Ilieva, emphasized that the Institute’s mission to be a bridge between science, industry and society fits into DIANA’s vision. GATE’s role as a NATO test center contributes to our national priorities, such as bridging the gap in the technological pace of development between individual Allies in the Alliance.

Professor Ilieva highlighted the experience and expertise of the Institute, matching the priority areas of DIANA. Among them are the secure exchange of information and the resilience of critical infrastructure. GATE is the initiator of a number of initiatives such as the first Bulgarian data space. It also heads a regional hub to fight disinformation and, as part of its applied research area “Future Cities”, develops innovations to help the effective planning and sustainability of urban infrastructure to improve the quality of life of citizens. During the event, GATE presented the infrastructure that entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from. It stands out with independence from external cloud providers, capacity to create huge data lakes, as well as high-quality power software guaranteeing the entire development life cycle. Based on its high-tech infrastructure, GATE will provide a range of testing and verification services covering different levels of technological readiness against established European standards.

In addition to raising the prestige of Bulgaria as a reliable ally, the establishment of a NATO test center in the field of big data and artificial intelligence in the country has the potential to attract new investments and provide Bulgaria with access to the latest technologies throughout the Alliance. The creation of a network of test centers for the development of new technologies supports the management and development of the overall technological potential of the Alliance. In this sense, Bulgaria’s participation in this endeavor also guarantees the freedom and security of Bulgarian citizens and the stability of our national institutions, as well as those in the other 30 NATO member states.

The GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” is the coordinator of the Bulgarian-Romanian BROD hub. Among the speakers of the webinar will be several representatives from BROD – Assoc. Prof. Milena Dobreva from the GATE Institute; Prof. Nicoleta Corbu, National School of Political and Administrative Studies (Scoala Nationala de Studii Politice si Administrative, SNSPA), Romania; as well as speakers from other organizations such as Kostas Konstantinidis from the University of Cyprus.

Iglika Ivanova from the Bulgarian Coalition for Media Literacy emphasized that international cooperation is particularly useful with the growing number of media and information literacy training events. She added that BROD is expected to contribute to the upcoming Media Literacy Days in our country with training for media professionals on fact-checking tools and environments. Associate Professor Dobreva from Sofia University noted that EDMO’s ambition to develop a set of indicators to measure the quality of training in the media and information literacy field is a necessary step to offer increasingly successful training and campaigns.

The network of fourteen EDMO hubs is now active in all 27 member states of the European Union. The organization aims to counter disinformation and analyze its impact on society and democracy at both national and European levels. Each of these hubs is actively involved in promoting digital and media literacy as part of its mission and has dedicated teams working on the topic.

The working language of the webinar will be English. It is organized by the Media and Learning Association (MLA) at EDMO.