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The European Language Data Space (LDS – Language Data Space) workshop, co-organized by the Institute for Language and Speech Processing of the Athena Research Center and the European Language Data Space, was held with great success at the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

 

The event brought together a large audience of academics, researchers, representatives of the political leadership, and business stakeholders. Its main themes focused on language infrastructures, language data, and synergies that are shaping the future of language technology in Greece in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

 

Mr. Stelios Piperidis and Ms. Maria Giagkou from the Athena RC opened the workshop, welcoming the participants and the political leadership.

 

The Deputy Minister of Development responsible for Research and Innovation, Mr. Stavros Kalafatis, addressed the event and spoke warmly about Athena’s initiative to organize the workshop. He emphasized the importance of the research carried out by Greece’s research centers in the field of AI, stating “I feel proud because our research centers are leading this national effort. Since today we are discussing the European Language Data Space, I must make special mention of Athena, whose excellence is tangibly demonstrated by the development of the first two open Greek Large Language Models, Llama-Krikri and Meltemi.” He also referred to the Greek AI Factory “Pharos,” which “positions our country as a regional AI hub in Southeastern Europe, offering Greek startups access to cutting-edge technology.” He added that “our participation in the European Language Data Space is critical for the survival of the Greek language, so that we do not become digitally voiceless.”

 

Mr. Antonis Gypakis, Head of the Directorate for Research and Innovation Planning at the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation mentioned the strong presence that Greece will have in the digital world through enhanced competitiveness and emphasized that the “General Secretariat for Research and Innovation of the Ministry of Development actively supports this effort through initiatives such as Pharos, which serves as a hub for the development and deployment of AI solutions leveraging data and cutting-edge technologies.”

 

The political leadership was also represented by Mr. Giannis Mastrogeorgiou, Special Secretary for Long-Term Planning of the Government, and Mr. Vassilis Karkatzounis, Special Secretary for Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance.

 

Mr. Philippe Gelin, Head of the Multilingualism Unit at DG CONNECT of the European Commission, spoke about the Alliance for Language Technologies (ALT-EDIC) and the Common European Language Data Space. He highlighted the pivotal role of data and language technologies in fostering innovation and competitiveness in Europe, while also promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and cooperation among Member States. He emphasized the importance of Data Spaces and the Data Union Strategy, which aim to facilitate access to high-quality data for AI, with simpler rules and reduced compliance costs for businesses. Finally, he underlined the importance of Greece’s participation in ALT-EDIC, as it offers opportunities for collaboration with other Member States in data collection and model and service development, strengthens the local economy through the adoption of multilingual AI solutions, ensures adequate representation of the Greek language in European AI models, and provides access to new funding opportunities.

 

In his presentation entitled “Developing a Market for Language Data and Services through a Common European Effort,” Mr. Stelios Piperidis focused on the Common European Language Data Space (LDS), an EU initiative aimed at creating a secure and trustworthy European market for the collection, sharing, and reuse of multilingual and multimodal data. The initiative seeks to address the shortage of language resources for European languages, enabling the development of Large Language Models (LLMs) that meet Europe’s cultural and societal needs. He also presented the technical infrastructure (LDS Connector), which ensures data sovereignty and trust among participants enabling public and commercial organizations to exchange data and services.

 

Mr. Vassilis Karkatzounis, Special Secretary for Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance at the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence, referred to the national strategy for public data and AI, built around people, privacy protection, and transparency that strengthens citizens’ trust. He highlighted public data as a strategic national resource and the “fuel” for AI application development. Moreover, he added that implementing this strategy requires a cultural shift in public administration—from isolated data silos to rule-based data sharing, with particular emphasis on interoperability and data quality.

 

Mr. Vassilis Katsouros, Director of the Institute for Language and Speech Processing at Athena, discussed the value of language data at all stages of Large Language Model (LLM) development. He emphasized the importance of LLMs for European languages and culture, Europe’s technological sovereignty, and their impact on the competitiveness of European businesses. Special emphasis was placed on preserving European languages in the digital era as a cornerstone of cultural and technological sustainability.

 

As part of the workshop, two insightful panel discussions were held, focusing on the Greek language data market and the Greek AI Factory “Pharos,” featuring distinguished speakers.

 

In the first panel, opportunities and challenges for developing a sustainable and inclusive language data ecosystem were analysed, with contributions from:

In the second panel, entitled “Pharos, the Greek AI Factory and Language Data Space: Synergies and Complementarity,” the significance of the PHAROS AI Factory as a key national infrastructure linking language, culture, and innovation through AI services was discussed. The discussion featured: