Speakers, Bios & Abstracts

Abstract

In today’s world, we are witnessing several challenges to the traditional formats of scientific publishing as a mechanism for sharing, validating, and receiving feedback on new ideas. These disruptions include over-reliance on metrics, predatory practices in publication venues, and metrics gaming by authors. Some of these behaviours not only hurt the development of science and add noise to the system, but also can ruin the career development of researchers. A second-order effect is the overload of the classic peer-review system. With increasingly capable AI agents, it looks as though the overload is poised to intensify, but maybe the same tools can also help transform the evaluation mechanisms and offer a fresh approach to replicability of results.

Carlos Baquero is a Professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Porto in the field of Distributed Systems. His work covers topics such as probabilistic data structures, causality tracking, CRDTs, and distributed algorithms in general. He tries to address fundamental problems that can have a practical impact on actual systems, and some of the resulting research has been applied in production systems worldwide. He writes regularly for the Blog@CACM.

Short Bio

Between 1991 and 1997, Gregor Engels held the position of Chair of Software Engineering and Information Systems at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Since then, he has been a professor of Informatics at Paderborn University in Germany. Following his retirement in 2024, he became a senior professor at Bielefeld University in Germany, where he acts as a strategic advisor for the digital transformation of universities.
He was the chairperson of the Software Innovation Lab at Paderborn University, which is part of the technology transfer institute SICP – Software Innovation Campus Paderborn. He is a founding member of Informatics Europe, a network organization of computer science departments across Europe.
His research interests lie in socio-technical systems, model-driven software development, enterprise architecture, digital twins, and software quality assurance. He is involved in numerous initiatives examining the impact of computer science on the future of work, education, enterprises and society.
He has published over 320 peer-reviewed scientific contributions and supervised 50 PhD projects. He has taught for over 40 years at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD level, as well as in professional education programmes.

Short Bio

Professor Michel R. V. Chaudron is a Full Professor of the Software Engineering group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
With over two decades of academic experience, Professor Chaudron has previously held positions at the University of Gothenburg/Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), Leiden University and at CMG (now CGI) as a professional software engineer.
His research interests encompass software architecture, software design, software modelling, and empirical studies in industrial software engineering practice. Recently, he has focused on the architecting digital twins of the human body and on integrating AI in software development processes. He also works towards increasing inclusiveness of academics from the ‘Global South’ in the software engineering community. He is an active supporter of the Euromicro Software Engineering and Advanced Applications conference.

Short Bio

Professor Giovanni Russello is a Cyber Security specialist and the Head of the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Giovanni previously served as the Director of the Cyber Security Research Programme, a multi-million-dollar project funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, aimed at enhancing New Zealand’s cyber security posture and fostering collaboration between New Zealand and Australian researchers.
Additionally, he is the founding Co-Director of the Cyber Security Foundry, the first multi-disciplinary center in New Zealand for Cyber Security, focused on strengthening collaboration between industry and academia. From 2013 to 2014, Giovanni held the position of founding CEO at a startup targeting the smartphone security market. His research interests include human-centered cyber security, policy-based security systems, privacy and confidentiality in cloud computing, smartphone security, and applied cryptography.

Short Bio
Dimka Karastoyanova is a full professor of Information Systems at the Computer Science Department of Bernoulli Institute (BI) for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She completed a six-year term on the BI Board, while acting in several roles: she was the head of the Computer Science Department from 2020 to 2024, vice-chair of the BI Board from 2024 to end of August 2025 and chair of the BI Board from June 2025 to May 2026. Since May 2025 Dimka is a member of the Board of IPN – the Dutch National Association for ICT Research.
She holds a doctoral degree in Computer Science (received from the TU Darmstadt, Germany). Her current research is in the areas of data-driven, service-based, process automation and performance improvement with focus on Processes for AI and AI for Processes finding application in fields like manufacturing, logistics, supply chain management, eScience, Data Science, healthcare and others. Her most prominent research topic is autonomic process performance improvement in the context of environmental and social sustainability.
Dimka is an Associated Editor of Transactions of Services Computing, an Associated Editor to Information Systems Journal and a member of the steering committee of EDOC. She is supporting the communities with organizing conferences, workshops and forums in different roles and is active as a reviewer for relevant conferences (e.g. BPM, CAiSE, EDOC, ICSOC, CoopIS), journals (TSC, JCC, TOSEM, Springer Computing, ACM TPDS, Information Systems, Computing Journal) and workshops. Dimka is leading the WG on Early Career Researchers of IE and is a co-organizer of the annual ECR workshop at ECSS.

Abstract

As artificial intelligence reshapes professional and educational landscapes across Europe, a critical gap persists between the rapid advancement of AI technologies and the capacity of institutions and individuals to adopt them meaningfully. AIM-PRO (AI Literacy for Multidisciplinary Professional Readiness and Outreach) is a 36-month Erasmus+ Alliance for Innovation project, funded by the European Union and co-supported by Movetia, that directly addresses this challenge. Bringing together 15 partner organisations across 9 European countries, AIM-PRO develops open, scalable frameworks and tools to embed AI literacy within higher education institutions, vocational education and training providers, and small and medium enterprises. The project is structured around three interconnected skill pillars: deep tech (AI literacy), green skills (Sustainable AI), and resilience and entrepreneurial skills (AI and EntreComp). This presentation introduces the vision, goals, and conceptual foundations of AIM-PRO. It outlines how the project integrates four technological approaches, Open Education Technology, Generative AI, Model-Driven Engineering, and Digital Twin Engineering, to produce validated, competency-aligned learning resources. It further describes how AIM-PRO synthesises major European frameworks (DigComp, GreenComp, EntreComp, and UNESCO AI competency guidelines) into a unified model aligned with EQF levels 5 and 6, supported by open badge certification and digital credentials. AIM-PRO represents a collaborative, research-grounded response to the urgent need for responsible, inclusive, and future-ready AI education across Europe.

Short Bio

Antonio Bucchiarone is an Associate Professor at the University of L’Aquila and a Visiting Fellow at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) in Trento, Italy. His research focuses on software engineering for adaptive socio-technical systems, with a strong emphasis on the design and development of educational tools and AI-driven agents for learning. He specializes in adaptive and motivational digital systems, gamification, and applying Model-Driven Engineering to create models, languages, and platforms that foster engagement and adaptability.
He is the Coordinator of the Erasmus+ AIM-PRO project (AI Literacy for Multidisciplinary Professional Readiness and Outreach) and has been actively involved in numerous national and European R&D initiatives, including the Erasmus+ ENCORE project on open educational resources. He serves as Senior Member of the IEEE and as Associate Editor for several journals, including IEEE Software, Journal of Object Technology (JOT), IEEE Transactions on Education, IEEE Transactions on Games, IEEE Technology and Society, and the International Journal of Serious Games.

Ana Belén Gil currently works at the Department of Computer Science and Automation , Universidad de Salamanca. Ana does research in Artificial Intelligence, Human-computer Interaction, Recommender systems and Databases.

Simona Motogna is a professor of Computer Science at Babes Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania, and currently serves as the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion working group of Informatics Europe. Her research focuses on empirical methods in Software Engineering and Software Quality. Simona was also an active member in EUGAIN COST Action and dedicated to supporting women in academic careers in Computer Science.

Enrico Nardelli is a full professor of Informatics in the University of Roma "Tor Vergata", affiliated with the Department of Mathematics. Since April 2014 he is coordinating the project “Programma il Futuro“ for the introduction of basic concepts of informatics as a scientific subject in Italian schools, with emphasis on primary schools and on computational thinking. Programma il Futuro is a joint project bewteen the Italian Ministry of Education and CINI, the Italian national inter-university Consortium for Informatics. Since its inception, the project has led about three million Italian students (half of them in primary schools) to start learning the principle of informatics. He was the President of Informatics Europe from 2018-2023, the association of informatics departments and research laboratories in Europe and neighbouring areas and initiator of the Informatics for All Coalition.

Jan Vahrenhold has been Professor for Algorithms and Education at the University of Münster since 2012. His research focuses on algorithms and data structures for geometric problems, algorithm engineering with a focus on resource efficiency and computer science education.
Jan Vahrenhold is co-editor-in-chief of "Computer Science Education" and associate editor of "ACM Inroads". He has (co-)chaired several conferences in the field of computer science and computer science education, most recently the ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER 2021/2022). He is a member of the national consortium for the "International Computer and Information Literacy Study" (ICILS 2028). He is also a current member of the Informatics Europe Board, and speaker of the "Computer Science and Education" section of the German Informatics Society. He was an instructor at SCHIER 2024 and 2025.