Held in Bucharest between 10 and 12 March 2026, DISB 2026 brought together institutional leaders, researchers, representatives of academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems to discuss some of the most relevant topics shaping digital transformation: artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, digital governance, digital education, and international cooperation in emerging technologies.
Prof. Adrian Groza contributed to the panel “The RO AI Factory Ecosystem: Scaling National AI Ambitions”, a discussion dedicated to Romania’s emerging national AI ecosystem and to the role of infrastructure, research, education, and cross-sector collaboration in supporting long-term AI development.
The panel brought together leading voices from research, academia, innovation, and institutional development:
Moderator: Cristian Ciobanu, Deputy Director, OII
Speakers:
- Adrian Victor Vevera, General Director, ICI Bucharest
- Mihnea Alexandru Moisescu, Professor, Faculty of Automatic Control and Computers, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest
- Adrian Groza, Vice-Rector for IT Infrastructure and Digitalization, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
- Mihaela Marinela Păun, General Director, National Institute for Research and Development in Biological Sciences
- Bianca Muntean, Cluster Manager, Transilvania IT Cluster
- Robert Similea, Educational Methodology Expert, CNIPMMR
- Tiberiu Boroș, Senior Research Scientist, Romanian Academy Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence “Mihai Drăgănescu”
The discussion focused on how Romania can strengthen its AI ecosystem by connecting public institutions, universities, research organizations, clusters, companies, and innovation communities. The panel highlighted the importance of building not only advanced technological infrastructure, but also the expertise, governance models, educational pathways, and partnerships needed to make artificial intelligence accessible, useful, and sustainable at national level.
Speaking about the importance of ecosystem-building, Prof. Adrian Groza emphasized that AI development cannot rely on data and infrastructure alone, but also on accumulated knowledge, expertise, and collaboration between actors. As he noted during the panel:
Unlike machine learning, which often needs big data to learn from thousands of examples, an ecosystem has background knowledge and expertise. This means that the companies and institutions within the ecosystem can learn from one or two examples.
Prof. Groza also pointed to the need for deeper technical competence and better evaluation frameworks in AI adoption. He also stressed that maturity in AI adoption means being able to assess risks, costs, and quality:
Maturity means being able to evaluate the risks, the costs, and the quality of an artificial intelligence system. In academia, when we work with companies, we focus on developing quality metrics for AI systems.
The panel also explored the strategic importance of the RO AI Factory, a national initiative designed to strengthen Romania’s artificial intelligence and supercomputing capacities. By offering access to advanced computing resources, datasets, software tools, and training programmes, RO AI Factory has the potential to support researchers, universities, startups, SMEs, public institutions, and industry partners in developing AI-based solutions with practical impact.
Under the umbrella of RO-AI factory, AIRi@UTCN will support companies to develop AI systems within 7 themes: (i) cyber critical infrastructure, (ii) digital government, (iii) industry, (iv) space, (v) defense, (vi) health and life sciences or (viii) mobility-energy.
AIRi@UTCN’s participation in DISB 2026 reflects the Institute’s commitment to contributing to Romania’s AI future through research, education, digital infrastructure, and meaningful collaboration across sectors. As national AI ambitions continue to scale, universities have a central role to play: connecting knowledge, talent, infrastructure, and innovation ecosystems in ways that can generate long-term value for society and the economy.
Photo album: AIRi@UTCN at DISB 2026 | RO AI Factory Ecosystem
Watch the full panel on Youtube: The RO AI Factory Ecosystem: Scaling National AI Ambitions
