Bled eConference

Photo highlights from the 39th Bled eConference are available here:

Conference gallery | 39th Bled eConference © 2026 Bled eConference | Contact us | Join us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Linkedin | Follow us on FlickrConference organizer: eCenter & Center for Education and Consulting, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Maribor

Yesterday we concluded the 39th Bled eConference. Over 4 days, we listened to 82 research presentations in 16 Research, 2 Doctoral Consortium and 3 Research in Progress sessions. We attended a workshop on Research for Impact in Digital Innovation and listened to leading experts from Europe and beyond at 5 different panels; »Towards a Trusted European Data Economy: Regulation, Governance and Stakeholder Engagement«, »From AR to AI: Designing Innovative Next-Generation Learning Experiences«, »How AI, Analytics and Digital is Transforming Healthcare Delivery«, »Research for Impact in Digital Innovation«, »Why Should We Care About Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0?«, and attended a project dissemination meeting for AI2SEP project.

On Monday, conference participants were welcomed and addressed by our conference chairs, Prof. Dr. Andreja Pucihar and Prof. Dr. Mirjana Kljajić Borštnar from University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Slovenia, Newly Elected Rector of University of Maribor in Slovenia, Prof. Dr. Dean Korošak, and Prof. Dr. Polona Šprajc, the Dean of University of Maribor's Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Slovenia.
Prof. Dr. Roger W. H. Bons from the Open Universiteit in the Netherlands set the tone for this year's discussions with his keynote address »Data*Grow: From data to data-driven impact in high-tech horticulture«, presenting a case in which data sharing and data- and AI-driven vegetable production lead to more sustainable, efficient, and resilient production with reduced consumption of energy, water, pesticides, and labour.

This year we awarded 2 outstanding research papers and 3 outstanding reviewers. Awarded papers in 2026 are »Strategic Embedding of Responsible AI: Governance Architecture and Hybrid Human–AI Value Creation«, authored by Valtteri Tomminen, Matti Leppäniemi, Tiina Kemppainen & Lauri Frank from University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and »Towards Agentic Personal Health and Organizational Domain Coordination in Occupational Nutrition«, authored by Kevin Nils Röhl, Rainer Alt & Jan Wirsam from HTW Berlin, University of Applied Science & Leipzig University in Germany.
Our outstanding reviewers for 2026 are Alinda Kokkinou from Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands; Ina Jäger from Technical University of Munich in Germany, and Valmir Bekiri from Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland.

Overall, the 39th Bled eConference was a fast-paced event. Along with the reunion with our long-standing members, we welcomed many new participants to the eBled family, had plenty of engaging discussions, and a lot of fun along the way. For us from the organising team, it felt like it was over in a blink of an eye.
A great thank you – to all our authors, reviewers, program committee members and guest speakers for all your help in creating a great conference.

We hope that you will join us again in 2027, for the special 40th edition of the Bled eConference.
Andreja, Mirjana and Doroteja

P.S. In the spirit of co-creating, please fill out this survey about 39th Bled eConference: https://forms.gle/QyXUMhYBtfP7EUNA9

39th Bled eConference proceedings are published and available online.
Thank you - to all our authors, reviewers, chairs and editors. This wouldn’t be possible without you.

https://press.um.si/index.php/ump/en/catalog/book/1128

39th Bled eConference is officially open! We started with the morning plenary session, with the keynote presentation by Roger Bons.
Openning session is now followed by plenary panel Towards a Trusted European Data Economy: Regulation, Governance and Stakeholder Engagement.
We will be in Astoria hotel until Wednesday, and the program is packed with interesting research presentations, panels and workshops.
Join us!

We already started with the Research for Impact in Digital Innovation. You can join us in hall 3.
Doctoral Consortium starts at 13:30 in hall 1.

Panel Towards a Trusted European Data Economy: Regulation, Governance and Stakeholder Engagement

After plenary opening, on Monday, June 7, 2026, 39th Bled eConference will host a panel Towards a Trusted European Data Economy: Regulation, Governance and Stakeholder Engagement.

The panel is being organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency.

Mirjana Kljajić Borštnar,University of Maribor, Faculty of organizational sciences, Slovenia will facilitate the discussion between the panelists:

Roger W. H. Bons, Faculty of Science, Open Universiteit, the Netherlands
Matevž Pesek, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science, Slovenia
Željko Guđulić, Urban Municipality of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Domen Mongus, University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Slovenia
Hans-Dieter Zimmermann, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Campus St. Gallen, Switzerland

Project: Development of a model of indicators for measuring the effectiveness of the implementation of the Data act in data spaces (V2-24066)

Second keynote speaker announcement: Aida Kamišalić Latifić

AI for Public Good: Turning Vision into Impact

About the speaker
Dr. Aida Kamišalić Latifić is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor. Over the past four years, she served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Slovenia, where she was responsible for the information society and the development of digital solutions.
She is an expert in digital transformation and public policy design in the fields of digitalization and artificial intelligence, with a strong focus on the strategic and responsible adoption of technologies in the public sector. Her work bridges technological innovation with ethical, legal, and societal considerations, advocating for a human-centered approach to technology.
Dr. Kamišalić Latifić actively collaborates with academia, research institutions, industry, and civil society organizations, contributing to discussions on digital sovereignty and the future of digital governance. She places particular emphasis on trust, security, the protection of vulnerable groups, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 39th Bled eConference will host a panel
Why should we care about virtual worlds and web 4.0?

Gül Akcaova, lead futurist at SURF, Netherlands,
Alina Kadlubsky, academic staff at Applied University of Mittweida, Germany and
Mark Cole, strategic advisor at SURF, Netherlands

will address the current state of virtual worlds, highlighting recent technological developments and innovative applications in education, collaborative research, and cultural engagement. Panelists will reflect on the historical development of virtual worlds, tracing the
evolution of immersive digital environments from early virtual reality experiments and online communities to today's increasingly sophisticated and interconnected platforms.
Understanding this trajectory helps contextualise the current role of virtual worlds within digital transformation, and frames the growing ethical dangers posed by the convergence of XR and AI.

More about the program:

Programme of the 39th Bled eConference | 39th Bled eConference PROGRAMME OF THE 39TH BLED ECONFERENCE CO-CREATING HUMAN-CENTRED AND RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL FUTURES *THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME WILL TAKE PLACE LIVE IN HOTEL ASTORIA IN BLED. *Please keep in mind that we will add the missing information. SUN, 7. 06. MON, 8. 06. TUE, 9. 06. WED, 10. 06. SUNDAY, 7. 06. 202...

FULL PROGRAMME
for the 39th Bled eConference is now available on the website:

Programme of the 39th Bled eConference | 39th Bled eConference PROGRAMME OF THE 39TH BLED ECONFERENCE CO-CREATING HUMAN-CENTRED AND RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL FUTURES *THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME WILL TAKE PLACE LIVE IN HOTEL ASTORIA IN BLED. *Please keep in mind that we will add the missing information. SUN, 7. 06. MON, 8. 06. TUE, 9. 06. WED, 10. 06. SUNDAY, 7. 06. 202...

First keynote speaker announcement: Roger W. H. Bons

Data*Grow: From data to data-driven impact in high-tech horticulture

The horticulture sector plays a vital role in providing food certainty to humanity but is facing serious sustainability challenges. In his keynote, Roger Bons will discuss the potential role of data science and AI in helping growers to produce vegetables using less energy, less water, less pesticides and less labor. He reports about a unique consortium in which growers, digital platform providers and academic partners have found each other to investigate how 800+ hectares of data can be used to meet the ambitious sustainability goals of the sector. Research, education and making societal impact are the joint ambition of the partners and the presentation will include some first experiences of how the often different worlds of science and practice can come together.

About the speaker

Roger W. H. Bons is an endowed professor of data science and AI at the Faculty of Science at the Open Universiteit in the Netherlands. This chair is founded by Growers United, a major European player in growing, packaging and selling greenhouse vegetables, and by and LetsGrow.com, an innovative provider of data platform technology and data driven growing expertise. He also chairs the Department of Information Science at the Faculty of Science at the Open University. Roger’s background combines leading positions in multinational corporates such as Philips and ING with academic positions at the Erasmus University, the University of St. Gallen, the FOM University of Applied Sciences and currently the Open Universiteit. Throughout his career his topics of interest consistently been at the cross-roads of practice and academia and of organization and technology. The Bled conference has been a constant factor since 1992 and has played a vital role in balancing the “rigor” and “relevance” of his professional endeavors.