AI-MATTERS, the EU-funded Testing and Experimentation Facility (TEF) helping manufacturers and technology providers validate AI and robotics solutions in real industrial settings, took part in the AI, Data and Robotics Forum (ADRF26) on 13 and 14 October 2026 at the Alfândega Congress Centre in Porto, Portugal. Valentina Ivanova and David Servat represented the facility in two workshops. One looked at the data and AI infrastructure behind physical AI in European manufacturing. The other looked at trustworthy human-robot interaction. INESC TEC, Portugal’s largest Research and Technology Organisation, organised the forum together with Adra, the AI, Data and Robotics Association, which represents the private side of the European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics. Around 500 experts, innovators and policymakers attended. The forum is also part of the European AI Innovation Month, which the European Commission leads in partnership with the Irish Presidency of the Council from 14 October to 17 November 2026.
Why the forum matters for industrial AI
Manufacturing is one of the sectors where Europe has most to gain from AI, and one where the distance between a promising prototype and a system running reliably on a production line is often greatest. Much of the relevant work is spread across two EU funding programmes that rarely meet in practice. Horizon Europe funds research and innovation projects that produce advanced data products, AI models and robotic capabilities. The Digital Europe Programme funds the infrastructure that should carry those results into industrial use: Data Spaces, AI Factories and Testing and Experimentation Facilities. For SMEs and technology providers, the practical question is how a solution developed in one of these projects can be tested, validated and trusted enough to be deployed. ADRF26, with its focus on moving AI, data and robotics from research to real-world use, was a natural place to take up that question.
AI-MATTERS’ contribution
In the workshop “Data and AI infrastructures to power a sovereign and trustworthy Physical AI in EU Manufacturing and Robotics Ecosystems”, Valentina Ivanova represented AI-MATTERS. Participants discussed how to close the gap between Horizon Europe and Digital Europe initiatives when building data-for-AI pipelines across the industrial edge-to-cloud continuum. On the Digital Europe side, Data Spaces, AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities and AI Factories have recently formed a pan-European infrastructure for physical AI applications in manufacturing and robotics, designed with European sovereignty in mind. On the Horizon Europe side, several dozen smaller initiatives have developed advanced, trustworthy data products and AI models, involving hundreds of innovators and industrial SMEs. The workshop looked at how these two strands can be connected, so that results from research projects can be tested and taken up on infrastructure built for industrial use.
David Servat represented AI-MATTERS in the workshop “Human-Robot Interaction in Europe: Building Trustworthy Collaboration from Lab to Deployment”. Human-robot interaction is a key capability for deploying AI-driven robots safely and effectively in real industrial environments. The strategy-oriented session built on three European sister projects: ARISE, FORTIS and JARVIS. Together, they have engaged more than 64 SMEs and start-ups and funded 42 innovation projects across the field. Discussion centred on how Europe can strengthen technology transfer and validation pathways for trustworthy robotics. Three mechanisms featured: collaboration between academia and industry, open calls, and cascade funding that brings SMEs and innovators into real-world experimentation. The session also examined how rigorous validation, benchmarking and qualification frameworks can build trust in mission-critical human-robot systems. Testing and Experimentation Facilities such as AI-MATTERS, AI Factories and regulatory sandboxes were discussed as examples.
Both workshops reflect what AI-MATTERS offers innovators. It runs a network of physical and digital facilities across Europe where solutions can be tested under real-life conditions, with services covering factory-level optimisation, human-robot interaction, the circular economy and the adoption of emerging AI-enabling technologies.
