Research Themes

Digital transformation only creates value if the systems behind energy, transport, healthcare, communications and public services are secure, resilient and continuously monitored. As the EU’s NIS2 framework raises cybersecurity obligations across 18 critical sectors, AI becomes increasingly important for anomaly detection, threat prioritisation, predictive maintenance and faster incident response. For Romania, this theme is about protecting national resilience while enabling modern infrastructure and digital services to scale safely and reliably.

Security increasingly depends on data fusion, autonomous sensing, cyber defence, simulation and faster decision support. Situational awareness, resilience and dual-use innovation have direct operational value.

OECD has highlighted the need for stronger digital governance, better use of data, and more coherent, human-centric public services. In this context, AI is not just a technology topic; it is a practical tool for reducing bureaucracy and improving state capacity.

AI matters for health and life sciences because it can improve medical imaging, triage, risk prediction, hospital operations, drug discovery and population-health analysis when supported by strong data governance.

Industrial AI is a competitiveness agenda as much as an innovation agenda.AI helps manufacturers and SMEs move from reactive, low-margin operations to higher-value, data-driven production through predictive maintenance, quality inspection, robotics, demand forecasting and energy optimisation.

Transport and energy systems must be cleaner, more connected and more adaptive. AI can support traffic optimisation, logistics planning, smart ports, predictive maintenance, grid balancing, renewable integration and better demand forecasting

AI turns satellite and sensor data into actionable intelligence for agriculture, forestry, flood and drought monitoring, urban planning, infrastructure management and territorial awareness.