CyclOps Winter School on Knowledge-based Systems and Data Spaces

What was the Winter School about?

This school was a one-off event organised and promoted by the members of the EU-funded CyclOps project that took place from 12 to 14 of January 2026 in Bozen/Bolzano (IT): a 2.5 days event where you could sharpen your understanding on how Knowledge-based Systems (KBSs) work, in support of the Common European Data Spaces.

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Content and Objective

Data. Information. Knowledge. Wisdom.

Semantic technologies are here to help us formalize knowledge and devise true wisdom out of the deluge of data we shape and encode into structured information and formats, in all sectors of our societies. Formalized knowledge boosts interoperability too, as systems can all agree on a common vocabulary and unambiguously understand and interpret the data.
 

But how to express and represent knowledge so to elicit smart reasoning by machines?

What about ontology-driven language models to understand unstructured texts?

And how does semantic interoperability work in Data Spaces?

Split into 5 macro-areas (4 theoretical + 1 practical), the event was also an opportunity to meet peer researchers and expand your professional or research network, while enjoying the majestic beauty of the surrounding italian Alps.

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The four macro-areas

The programme of the Winter School was grouped into 4 thematic areas:

1. THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
   Controlled Vocabularies, Taxonomies, Thesauri, and Ontologies.
2. FROM THEORY TO ACTION
   Knowledge Representations and Reasoning (KRR) and Expert Systems.
3. KNOWLEDGE FROM THE UNSTRUCTURED
   Natural Language Processing and LLMs.
4. SEMANTICS IN THE EU
   Innovation in the European Union: EU values and the Data Spaces.

A morning session with “hands-on” / practical applications from the CyclOps consortium will conclude the school.

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Audience and language

The program welcomed an international audience, and the lectures were held in English. PhDs students, post-docs and young researchers were especially welcome, but participation was equally welcomed by employees from public administrations, industry, or NGOs.