Data Week 2026: discover HaDEA-managed projects unlocking AI for industry and society

The European Big Data and Data Driven AI research and innovation community will gather on 5-6 May in Oslo, Norway for Data Week 2026.

The event is organised by the Big Data Value Association in collaboration with key research partners: Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF, and Western Norway Research Institute.

As AI plays an important role in harnessing the potential of data, this year’s Data Week is held under the theme "Data Fjords: Unlocking AI for Industry and Society."

In Data Week, the participants share knowledge and results, discuss topics of common interest, find synergies, build new collaborations and identify new challenges and opportunities for innovation.

The programme highlights the importance of viewing data value creation through an ecosystem perspective. This means encouraging collaboration among multiple stakeholders to build solid foundations for advanced research. Ultimately, the goal is to enhance both industrial competitiveness and societal impact across Europe.

Data Week also plays an important role in linking research and innovation efforts to European policies and market needs and brings European initiatives and activities closer to local communities. Discover participating projects managed by HaDEA:

• ENACT is developing a Cognitive Computing Continuum to improve resource management and enable dynamic scaling across complex, distributed systems. By applying advanced AI techniques such as Graph Neural Networks and Deep Reinforcement Learning, it creates intelligent tools to recommend optimal deployment strategies for highly distributed applications. Through its research, ENACT strengthens Europe’s technological capabilities, enhances IT efficiency, and promotes the adoption of AI-driven solutions across industry and society.
• PERKS provides digital tools to capture, manage, and reuse procedural knowledge in industrial environments, addressing the current lack of proper digitalisation despite its critical role in efficient operations. It uses a combination of symbolic and sub-symbolic AI to build and continuously refine Procedural Knowledge Graphs, with human input ensuring accuracy and relevance. The solution supports industry workers by improving daily task execution, boosting efficiency, and enabling upskilling and knowledge transfer in line with Industry 5.0 principles. It is developed through collaboration between technology experts and industrial partners, combining advanced AI capabilities with real-world use cases and business needs.
• EXTRA-BRAIN develops next-generation AI inspired by how the human brain processes information, moving beyond traditional deep neural networks that rely on biologically unrealistic designs and global learning rules. Instead, it adopts brain-like mechanisms such as selective attention, parallel and asynchronous processing, adaptability, and efficient resource use. By leveraging insights from computational neuroscience, the project aims to create scalable, energy-efficient, and flexible Brain-Like Neural Networks. Its main goal is to bring these advanced approaches out of research and deploy them in real-world applications.