The EDIH Summit 2026 examines how Europe’s AI innovation ecosystem evolves from policy development toward operational implementation. The event brings together the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) network, EU institutions, Member States, AI infrastructures and innovation stakeholders to discuss how organisations can effectively access and deploy trustworthy AI solutions across Europe.
A key moment of participation will be the panel session scheduled for 10 June, dedicated to collaboration between EDIHs, Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs), and AI Regulatory Sandboxes (AIRS). The session will focus on practical examples of collaboration and concrete operational experiences rather than high-level discussion.
From the TEFs perspective, Raffaele Giaffreda (agrifoodTEF) and David Servat (AI-MATTERS) will present real use cases and explain how collaboration between EDIHs and TEFs works in practice. Discussions will cover how organisations can access TEF services, the entry points and processes available, practical collaboration mechanisms between EDIHs and TEFs as well as lessons learned and future perspectives for stronger ecosystem integration.
The session aims to showcase how these infrastructures can jointly support organisations throughout the innovation journey, from testing and validation to deployment and uptake.
At the end of the panel, a joint document entitled “EDIH–TEF Collaboration High-Level Guidelines” will be presented. Developed jointly by CoordinaTEF, the TEFs, and the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA), under the supervision of the European Commission, the document outlines: the EU vision for AI innovation in European industry, when and why organisations should engage with EDIHs or TEFs as well as practical EDIH–TEF collaboration cases and pathways.
Who Should Attend
The Summit is designed for EDIHs, TEFs, AI Factories, policymakers, innovation agencies, SMEs, public administrations and ecosystem actors interested in the practical implementation of Europe’s AI strategy and support infrastructures.
Relevance for the TEF Ecosystem
TEFs play an important role within the broader European AI ecosystem by providing environments for validation, testing and experimentation of AI technologies in real-world conditions. The EDIH Summit provides an opportunity for TEF stakeholders to exchange experiences with EDIHs, AI Factories and other infrastructures, while exploring synergies that strengthen coordination, reduce fragmentation and improve support pathways for AI innovators across Europe.
