AI EDIH Türkiye Advancing AI and Digital Innovation: Türkiye–Hungary EDIH Collaboration in Focus
The program was inaugurated with a networking reception hosted by H.E. Ms. Gülşen Karanis Ekşioğlu, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Hungary.
The visit brought together leading EDIHs from both countries, national authorities, and key innovation stakeholders. Representing the AI EDIH Türkiye Consortium, MEXT General Manager Efe Erdem and Project Coordinator Hande Bayrak took part in the delegation. The Turkish delegation also included:
- Ahmet Halit Hatip, Director General for EU and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Technology
- Bülent Özcan, Director-General for Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation, Directorate for EU Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Representatives from the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Industry and Technology, Directorate for EU Affairs and Türkiye’s national EDIHs
The program was inaugurated with a networking reception hosted by H.E. Ms. Gülşen Karanis Ekşioğlu, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Hungary.
During the visit, the delegation held institutional meetings with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and conducted site visits to several prominent Hungarian EDIHs:
- HPC CC Hungary
- AI EDIH Hungary (MI EDIH Magyarország)
- Hungarian Data-EDIH
- DigitalTech EDIH
- AEDIH – Agricultural EDIH for Hungary
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The AI EDIH Türkiye Consortium includes leading organizations such as MESS, MEXT, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul Chamber of Industry, ISO ETP, TÜBİTAK BİLGEM, Istanbul Development Agency, İTÜ ARI Teknokent, and Bilkent University.
The AI EDIH Türkiye Consortium includes leading organizations such as MESS, MEXT, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul Chamber of Industry, ISO ETP, TÜBİTAK BİLGEM, Istanbul Development Agency, İTÜ ARI Teknokent, and Bilkent University.
This study visit marked a valuable milestone in building a robust innovation bridge between Türkiye and Hungary—fueling new opportunities for AI and digital transformation across borders.
What's More
In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, delivering trustworthy, relevant, and timely information is critical to informing and engaging our ecosystem. On 4th June 2025, AI EDIH Türkiye partnered with TÜBİTAK to host a full-day in-person event titled “BSC AI Factory Journey”, bringing together a wide range of stakeholders—startups, SMEs, public institutions, academia, investors, and civil society—to explore how cutting-edge AI infrastructure can accelerate innovation in Türkiye and across Europe.
This ecosystem clustering event spotlighted Barcelona Supercomputing Center’s (BSC) AI Factory, one of the seven AI Factories co-funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, in collaboration with Spain, Portugal, Türkiye, and Romania. These facilities provide AI-optimized supercomputing resources and support services to empower research and development across sectors.
The event served not only as an introduction to BSC AI Factory’s service offerings but also as a regional catalyst for dialogue around Trustworthy AI, machine learning model acceleration, and cross-border cooperation.
Why It Matters for Türkiye’s AI and Digital Innovation Ecosystem
At AI EDIH Türkiye, we’re committed to connecting Türkiye’s industrial and academic actors with European-scale resources. The BSC AI Factory event showcased how EU-funded infrastructures such as AI Factories and Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) can complement national strategies and enable SMEs to access tools that were previously out of reach.
Key themes included:
- Leveraging high-performance computing (HPC) for AI and machine learning
- Creating access to shared datasets and compute environment
- Supporting AI ethics, responsible use, and strategic alignment with EU AI policy
- Encouraging multi-country cooperation for innovation scaling
Agenda
- 09:00 – 10:00 | Registration and Welcome
- 10:00 – 10:15 | Opening Remarks
- 10:15 – 10:35 | Introduction to AI EDIH Türkiye – European Digital Innovation Hub
- 10:35 – 11:20 | The BSC AI Factory Journey
- 11:20 – 11:35 | EuroCC Project and NCC Türkiye: Compute, AI, and Training Support
- 11:35 – 12:00 | Q&A and Open Forum
- 12:00 – 13:30 | Networking Lunch
- 13:30 – 15:30 | AI in Sectoral Applications
5 Ways This Event Adds Value to Türkiye’s AI Ecosystem
Access to BSC’s AI Factory services was positioned as a gateway for Turkish innovators to benefit from pre-built compute environments, validated use cases, and proven data practices—licensed and made accessible through structured collaboration.
For SMEs and organizations lacking internal AI teams, the event introduced outsourcing opportunities via EDIH services, EuroCC networks, and supercomputing centers.
Use of live demos and sector-specific showcases brought AI potential to life—highlighting use cases in manufacturing, public services, and research.
Contributions from researchers, policymakers, and technical leaders created a dynamic dialogue on Türkiye’s role in the broader European AI strategy.
The agenda was designed around the expressed needs of AI EDIH Türkiye’s community—focusing on practical access to computing infrastructure, funding, and support for digital innovation.
The BSC AI Factory Journey event exemplified how EU-supported platforms like AI EDIH Türkiye and AI Factories can break down barriers to AI adoption. By connecting Türkiye’s ecosystem to Europe’s digital backbone, we are not only closing gaps in technological capability—but also empowering our SMEs, public institutions, and researchers to lead in the twin digital and green transitions.
Stay tuned for future ecosystem events and updates on collaborative AI services.
**The event organized in Turkish.
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