Workshops Overview
The ADRF26 Conference offers a variety of hands-on workshops designed to give participants practical skills, new insights, and opportunities to collaborate. Workshops are led by experts and cover topics ranging from data governance and privacy to advanced analytics and evaluation methods.
The European AI, Data, Robotics Forum (ADRF) is the annual community gathering event organised by the AI, Data and Robotics Association (Adra) in collaboration with the European Commission. This event serves as an arena for inspiration and matchmaking of actors and stakeholders in Europe with the goal of promoting research, innovation and deployment of AI, Data, and Robotics (ADR) towards boosting competitiveness and improving technological leadership and welfare across Europe. The call for workshops is thematically open to any topic at the crossroads between AI, Data and Robotics.
What to Expect
Diverse Topics: Sessions span data science, ethics, technology, and evaluation practices.
All Levels: Options for beginners, intermediates, and advanced participants.
Interactive Format: Each workshop is designed to be practical and collaborative.
Expert Instructors: Learn from leaders across research, government, and industry.
Workshop Sessions Condensed Agenda
Day 1, 13 October, 2026
| Time | Session Title | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Opening: Pedro Duarte, Mayor of Porto and Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation + João Claro, President and CEO, INESC TEC. The State of the Union for ADR (Opening Ceremony). Emanuela Girardi. | Nascente 2nd floor (Plenary) |
| 09:30 | Panel 1: European Renaissance 2.0: Enrique Lizaso, Multiverse (Keynote), Kristina Knaving, Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, Nicolas.schneider, AIRBUS, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life: The elements of European ADR leadership | |
| 14:00 | Plenary 2: Pooling Capital to Scale - Davide Rota (Generative Bionics), Ana Casca, Board Member, European Innovation Council, Luis Calandria (Dealflow) Reet Pargmae (Taltech) | |
| 17:00 | Plenary 3: The geopolitics of trust: Strengthening Europe's global position - Stephen Macdonnel (University of Wellington), Jung Hoon Lee (AI Advisor to ROK government), Mallory Durran (Executive Director of Nesta's Applied Research and Methods), Emilia Tantar (Chief AI Officer at Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity) | |
| 11:00 | GENAI4EU (60 mins) | Porto (The Toolbox) |
| 12:00 | AI INFRASTRUCTURE (60 min) AMD - BOSCH | |
| 14:00 | Apply AI in Robotics and Manufacturing (60 min) - Michale (Qualcomm), Rich Walker (Shadow Robotics), Shane (VITO), Zoe (University of Patras/GRAIL/EUROFMX) - Policy | |
| 15:00 | Technology Foundations: Robotics and Trustworthy AI: MANiBOT, RoboSAPIENS, EXTRA-BRAIN, AIXPERT (40min); Discussion (20min) | |
| 11:00 here | Beyond Pick-and-Place: Advanced Robotic Manipulation in Dynamic and Unstructured Environments | Arrábida (SOTA Benchmark) |
| 12:00 here | Sovereign Physical AI for Europe's Energy Resilience through Autonomous Robot Inspection and Maintenance | |
| 14:00 here | From Task Intentions to Reliable Multi-Robot Work in Human-Centred Environments | |
| 15:30 here | AI for Circular Materials: From Hyperspectral Perception to Autonomous Sorting | |
| 17:00 here | Multimodal perception: from mature technologies to industrial deployment | |
| 11:00 here | European Gateway for Trusted AI in Digital Health: Orchestrating Innovation from Data to Deployment | D. Luis (Industry 5.0) |
| 12:00 here | Beyond the Pilot: How European Robotics Reaches Certified Industrial Deployment | |
| 14:00 here | Data and AI for Circular Industrial Equipment: Re-use, Remanufacturing, Re-build and Upcycling Across Device, Data and Material Levels | |
| 15:30 here | Robotics and AI for Inspection of Critical Infrastructures in Extreme Underwater Environments | |
| 17:00 here | Digital Twins as the Operational Layer for AI, Data and Robotics in European Industry | |
| 11:00 here | Measuring Europe’s ADR Capabilities: From Sovereignty Policy Actions to Observatory KPIs | D. Maria (Trust-to-market) |
| 12:00 here | Data and AI infrastructures to power a sovereign and trustworthy Physical AI in EU Manufacturing and Robotics Ecosystems | |
| 14:00 here | Human-Robot Interaction In Europe: Building Trustworthy Collaboration from Lab to Deployment | |
| 15:30 here | From Lab to Industry: Scaling Highly Autonomous Robots Under Regulatory Uncertainty | |
| 17:00 here | "From Policy to Action — Europe's Tech Sovereignty Roadmap" | |
| 11:00 here | AI-Driven HMI Design for CCAM: Methods, Tools, and Human-Centred Validation | Infante (Catalyst Marketplace) |
| 12:00 here | AI + Robotics for maintenance at scale: Turning data into actions and operational value | |
| 14:00 here | Manufacturing-as-a-Service. Powering Europe's next Industrial model and Standardization Pathways in the EuroMaaS Projects Cluster | |
| 15:30 here | AI for Freight Transportation: From Predictive Models to Technology Transfer | |
| 17:00 here | From Cutting Table to Finished Garment: Robotic Automation in European Apparel Manufacturing | |
| 13:00 | Pitches - Platinum & Diamond | Arquivo (Exhibition / Pitching) |
Day 2, 14 October, 2026
| Time | Session Title | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Opening Day 2: João Barros, President of National Agency of Research and Innovation (AI2), Ricardo Bento (VP of North Region Coordination Commission (CCDR-Norte). Keynote: The geopolitics of trust: Strengthening Europe's global position. Plenary 4: ADR in mission-critical environments - Nelson Pinho (EDP), James Blackwood (AI Advisor at NHS Lothian, Manuela Veloso (Head of JP Morgan AI Research), Bernado Almada-Lobo (Founder & Partner of LTP Labs) | Nascente 2nd floor (Plenary) |
| 14:00 | Plenary 5: Competitive edge: Winning the global scale-up race - Joaquim Sérvulo Rodrigues, CEO and Founder Armilar Venture Partners, Piotr Mieczkowski (Chariman of AI Poland), Rayan El Idrissi (Co-Founder & CTO of Pulsar Robotics) | |
| 18:00 | Plenary 6: Porto de Honra - The Catalyst Manifesto (Closing) - Fireside with Emanuela and Arlindo Oliveira, President, INESC Holding. | |
| 10:30 | AI in Strategic sectors: Part I AI in strategic sectors: Manifacturing, Energy, Climate & Environment, Healthcare: DMaaST, COSMIC, TURING, PRIMI | Porto (The Toolbox) |
| 11:15 | AI for impact: Human centricity, Circularity, Sustainability: AI4REALNET, AMALTEA, iBot4CRMs, MERLIN Round Table Discussion | |
| 12:00 | From Projects to Policy – Feedback Session (30 mins) Roundtable discussion | |
| 15:00 | From Projects to Policy - Feedback Session Roundtable discussion: Speakers from A1 / HaDEA, Adra and stakeholders | |
| 16:45 (75 mins) | SRIDA - SUPPLY CHAIN | |
| 10:00 here | When Robots Learn to Interact: Foundation Models for Human-Robot Collaboration and Dexterous Manipulation in Healthcare and Industry | Arrábida (SOTA Benchmark) |
| 11:15 here | European Physical AI for Strategic Autonomy in Field Robotics | |
| 15:00 here | Physical AI , Robotics and Computational Biology as a Compass for Europe Competitiveness | |
| 16:45 here | What is the future of science in the world of AI? | |
| 10:00 here | Designing the European Hospital of the Future: A Community Roadmapping Workshop on AI, Data & Robotics for Resilient Healthcare | D. Luis (Industry 5.0) |
| 11:15 here | AI + Robotics: Success and challenges | |
| 15:00 here | UAVs for Autonomous Logistics in the Factory - Deep Reinforcement Learning, Applications and Challenges | |
| 16:45 here | A European co-design workshop on developing successful humanoid robotics projects for healthcare. | |
| 10:00 here | Designing Ecosystem Governance for Successful ADR Deployment | D. Maria (Trust-to-market) |
| 11:15 here | Trustworthy and Sovereign Industrial Agentic AI: Digital Twins, Standards and Governance | |
| 15:00 here | From Industry Needs to Research Priorities: Developing a European Defence Technology Outlook | |
| 16:45 here | Futuring AI Skills in the European Union: Exploring Skills Gaps in key strategic industrial domains | |
| 10:00 here | From Sustainability Challenges to ADRA Action Lines: Connecting Robotics, AI and Data | Infante (Catalyst Marketplace) |
| 11:15 | Accelerating AI-Driven Robotics Adoption for European Strategic Autonomy | |
| 15:00 | AI, Data and Robotics for Construction 5.0: From European Pilots to Industrial Deployment | |
| 16:45 | Operational Robotics for Quality Control, Inspection, and Assisted Maintenance for Defense | |
| 13:00 | Pitches - Gold | Arquivo (Exhibition / Pitching) |
| 13:30 | OOST NL - Marianne |