The GreenShift consortium gathered at the Università di Pisa on 4–5 June 2026 for its first plenary meeting since the project's launch, bringing together partners from across Europe to shape the next phase of its educational programme in AI, HPC, and green mobility.

The GreenShift consortium convened in Pisa, Italy, on 4–5 June 2026, hosted by the Department of Computer Science at the Università di Pisa, for its first plenary meeting of the year. The two-day gathering brought together partners from academia, industry, research, and innovation ecosystems across Europe, representing a significant step forward in the development of GreenShift's market-led European educational programme focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), and green digital innovation in sustainable transport.

Aligning education with the demands of Europe's green transition

As Europe accelerates its shift towards greener, smarter, and more connected mobility systems, the demand for professionals with advanced AI and HPC skills is growing rapidly. Yet the workforce and public sector are not yet fully equipped to meet that demand. GreenShift responds to this challenge by developing flexible, industry-connected learning pathways, micro-credentials, hackathons, and innovation challenges that bridge the gap between emerging technological capabilities and real-world transport challenges.

The Pisa meeting focused on aligning GreenShift's educational programme with emerging industry and skills needs, advancing the development of core and elective curriculum modules, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration across the consortium. It also provided dedicated space for in-person exchange and partnership building — a vital component of a project that spans nine European countries.

"The European Green Deal sets Europe on a path towards climate neutrality by 2050," said Prof. Dr. Horacio González-Vélez, GreenShift Project Coordinator and Head of the Cloud Competence Centre at National College of Ireland. "GreenShift contributes to this transformation by equipping a new generation of professionals with advanced skills in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing — technologies that can accelerate the decarbonisation of transport and enable more sustainable mobility systems across Europe."

A growing European network for green digital skills

GreenShift brings together 14 partners and 2 associated partners from 9 European countries, combining expertise from higher education institutions, AI and HPC centres, SMEs, industry networks, labour market intermediaries, and non-profit organisations. This breadth of collaboration reflects a shared European commitment to ensuring that the twin green and digital transitions are supported by a workforce with the skills, knowledge, and tools to deliver them.

As the project coordinator, National College of Ireland plays a central role in driving GreenShift's educational vision and ensuring that its programme reflects both the latest advances in computational science and the real-world needs of the transport sector.

The Pisa plenary meeting reinforces GreenShift's momentum as the project moves into its next phase of curriculum development, industry engagement, and learning programme design.

Further information

To learn more about GreenShift, visit the project website: www.thegreenshift.eu

GreenShift Partners to Gather in Pisa for Strategic Plenary Meeting on AI, HPC & Sustainable Transport Innovation 

May 2026

Representatives from the Cloud Competency Centre (CCC) at National College of Ireland will travel to Pisa, Italy, on 4–5 June 2026 for the upcoming GreenShift plenary consortium meeting, hosted by the Università di Pisa, Department of Computer Science. The meeting will bring together project partners from across Europe to advance collaboration on Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), sustainable transport innovation, and digital skills development. 

As coordinator of the GreenShift project, National College of Ireland will be represented by Amanda Miranda De Andrade, Dr. Adriana Chis, Prof. Dr. Horacio González-Vélez, Grace Herbert, Michael Bradford, and Dietmar Janetzko. The two-day plenary meeting will provide an important opportunity for consortium partners to review project progress, strengthen strategic alignment, and coordinate activities across education, research, communication, and industry engagement work packages. 

GreenShift is developing a market-led Joint European Master’s programme focused on AI and High-Performance Computing for Green Digital Innovation in Transport. The initiative aims to address growing skills shortages in sustainable mobility and transport sectors by equipping learners, researchers, and professionals with advanced digital competencies aligned with Europe’s green and digital transition priorities. 

The consortium brings together representatives from 14 organisations across eight European countries, including higher education institutions, AI and HPC centres, industry partners, SMEs, labour market organisations, and non-profit stakeholders contributing to the wider GreenShift ecosystem. 

Discussions throughout the plenary meeting will focus on curriculum development, programme accreditation planning, learning delivery models, shared datasets supporting innovation activities, communication and dissemination strategies, and the alignment of project activities with evolving industry and workforce needs. The meeting will also support cross-work package collaboration and knowledge exchange as partners continue building a connected European ecosystem around sustainability, AI, HPC, and transport innovation. 

As project coordinator, NCI plays a central role in guiding the strategic direction of GreenShift and supporting collaboration between academic institutions, industry partners, and European stakeholders working at the intersection of digital innovation and sustainability. 

NCI researcher leads full paper selected for IEEE IPDPS 2026 

May 2026 — Dublin / New Orleans 

Research led by Dr Bernardo Pulido-Gaytan of the National College of Ireland’s Cloud Competency Centre has been accepted as a full paper at the 40th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS 2026), taking place from 25–29 May 2026 in New Orleans, USA. 

Full paper acceptance at IPDPS is a significant research distinction. It indicates that the work has passed the conference’s rigorous peer-review process and will be presented as a substantial original contribution to the field of parallel and distributed computing. 

The paper, “Cryptographically Computable Self-Learning Activation Functions for Privacy-Preserving Logistic Regression with Homomorphic Encryption”, is authored by Dr Pulido-Gaytan with Professors Horacio González-Vélez, and Andrei Tchernykh. It tackles one of the most pressing questions in artificial intelligence: how can organisations train and use machine learning models when the data are too sensitive to reveal? 

At the centre of the work is a method for cryptographically computable self-learning activation functions. Activation functions are normally a core component of machine learning models, but they can be difficult to implement efficiently under encryption. The proposed approach supports privacy-preserving logistic regression over encrypted data, using homomorphic encryption. In practical terms, this allows computation to take place while the underlying information remains encrypted. 

“Privacy should not be the price of useful artificial intelligence. Our work asks whether machine learning can keep learning while the data remain mathematically hidden. This is essential if AI is to serve healthcare, mobility, finance, and public services without weakening public trust.” Dr Bernardo Pulido-Gaytan 

This research matters because many high-value AI applications depend on data that cannot simply be shared. Transport operators, hospitals, banks, municipalities, and public authorities all hold information that could improve services and decision-making, but these data often contain personal, commercial, or operationally sensitive details. Privacy-preserving AI offers a pathway for extracting insight without exposing the underlying data. 

The work is particularly relevant to the EU-funded GreenShift project. coordinated by NCI. The project specifically targets AI- and High Performance Computing (HPC)-enabled innovation for transport decarbonisation, smart mobility, energy efficiency, and resource optimisation. 

Dr Pulido-Gaytan’s research also supports the research agenda of SMARCO – SMARt COmmunities Skills Development in Europe, in which NCI is a project partner. Secure and privacy-preserving AI is a foundational capability for such communities, where digital services must be trusted, robust, and aligned with citizens’ rights. 

Professor González-Vélez, Head of the Cloud Competency Centre at NCI and coordinator of GreenShift, will represent the Centre at IPDPS 2026 and will use the opportunity to promote the wider European impact of NCI’s work in AI, HPC, green digital innovation, and resilient smart communities. 

“Bernardo’s full paper acceptance at IPDPS is an important recognition of the quality and relevance of his research,” said Prof. González-Vélez. “Privacy-preserving machine learning is not only a cryptographic challenge. It is also an enabling technology for digital public services, sustainable mobility, and smart communities that citizens can trust.” 

For more information on the conference, visit ipdps.org. 

GreenShift at TRA 2026: Presenting the Future of Green Digital Skills in Transport 

NCI is heading to Budapest this May for the Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026 — Europe's largest and most prestigious transport research and innovation conference. We are proud to share that GreenShift will be represented at the event, with a dedicated presentation slot on the opening day. 

About TRA 2026 

The Transport Research Arena is Europe's flagship conference for transport research and innovation, initiated by the European Commission and key stakeholders. Bringing together academia, industry, policymakers, and civil society, TRA 2026 in Budapest will showcase cutting-edge European and global know-how across all transport modes and mobility sectors, with a special spotlight on young researchers and next-generation solutions. 

GreenShift at TRA 

Prof. Horacio González-Vélez, GreenShift's Principal Investigator, Project Coordinator and Head of the Cloud Competency Centre at NCI, will take to the Exhibition Stage (Theatre) on Monday 18 May, in a presentation slot reserved from 14:00 to 14:30. 

The presentation will introduce GreenShift's vision: a pioneering Joint European Master's Programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) for Green Digital Innovation in Transport. GreenShift addresses a critical skills gap — European SMEs, startups, and municipalities developing sustainable transport and mobility solutions currently lack access to the advanced digital competencies needed to fully leverage AI and HPC in their research and innovation processes. 

TRA is the ideal stage for this conversation. As Europe accelerates towards its NetZero targets and the demands of the Fit for 55 package, equipping the transport sector with the right digital skills is not optional, it is essential. GreenShift sits at the intersection of advanced digital education and green transport innovation, making it directly relevant to the challenges and ambitions driving TRA 2026. 

Join Us in Budapest 

If you are attending TRA 2026, we warmly invite you to join Horacio's presentation on Monday 18 May at 14:00. It is a great opportunity to learn more about GreenShift and explore how AI and HPC are shaping the future of sustainable transport in Europe. 

For more information about the GreenShift project, visit http://www.thegreenshift.eu or follow us on LinkedIn. 

Digital4Security Consortium Meeting

April 2026

Dr. Adriana Chis and Prof. Dr. Horacio González-Vélez will represent NCI's Cloud Competency Centre (CCC) at the Digital4Security Consortium Meeting, taking place on 28–29 April 2026 in Koblenz, Germany. The meeting brings together international project partners to review progress, coordinate next-stage activities, and strengthen collaboration across the Digital4Security initiative. 

As an active European project partner, NCI CCC continues to contribute to the advancement of secure digital skills development and cross-border innovation in cybersecurity education. 

Further details will be added to our CCC Events page following the meeting. 

CCC at Digital4Sustainability Consortium Meeting in Alcalá de Henares 

March 2026

Representatives from NCI's Cloud Competency Centre (CCC) — Ariadny Bittencourt, Prof. Dr. Dr. Dietmar Janetzko, and Prof. Dr. Horacio González-Vélez — attended the Digital4Sustainability consortium meeting in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, on 19–20 March 2026, hosted by the Universidad de Alcalá. Digital4Sustainability is an Erasmus+-funded initiative uniting 29 partners from 13 EU countries, dedicated to developing digital sustainability skills across Europe to support the continent's twin digital and green transitions. 

As leader of Work Package 3 (WP3): Design of Curricula, Accreditation Criteria, Certification Framework and Development of Learning Materials, NCI CCC presented two key deliverables at the meeting. D3.1 — Digital Sustainability Educational Profiles and Core Curricula defines five professional profiles for the digital sustainability workforce, together with associated core curricula, learning units, and upskilling pathways. As the foundational deliverable underpinning all subsequent tasks and work packages within the project, D3.1 is a landmark achievement for the consortium. The team also presented D3.3 — Digital Sustainability Certification and Micro-Credentialling Framework, establishing the accreditation structures through which professionals across Europe will have their digital sustainability competences formally recognised. 

For more information, visit digital4sustainability.eu or access D3.1 directly here.

CCC Postdoctoral Research on Machine Learning for Advanced Manufacturing Published in Materials

January 2026

The Cloud Competency Centre (CCC) at the National College of Ireland proudly announces a significant new research publication advancing the frontiers of smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence. The study, led by postdoctoral researcher Jorge Mario Cortés-Mendoza and Professor Horacio González-Vélez, brings together an international team of experts, including Agnieszka Żyra from the Cracow University of Technology and Professor Andrei Tchernykh from the CICESE Research Center. 

Published on 22 January 2026 in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Materials (ISSN 1996-1944), the paper “Determining Material Removal and Electrode Wear in Electric Discharge Machining with a Generalist Machine Learning Framework” introduces a novel and highly adaptable machine learning approach to modelling material removal and electrode wear in Electric Discharge Machining (EDM), a cornerstone process in advanced manufacturing. 

This breakthrough research demonstrates the transformative potential of intelligent, data-driven systems to significantly enhance manufacturing precision, reduce operational waste, and optimise industrial performance. By leveraging advanced machine learning techniques, the study paves the way for smarter, more sustainable production processes across a range of industries. 

The publication reinforces CCC’s position as a leader in applied AI research and highlights its growing impact at the intersection of cloud computing, data science, and industrial innovation. It also reflects the Centre’s strong commitment to fostering international collaboration and delivering research that directly addresses real-world challenges faced by modern industry. 

Access the publication here.

Breakthrough Research in Synthetic Medical Imaging for Alzheimer's Detection Presented at SBAC-PAD 2025 

October 2025

Prof. Dr. Horacio González-Vélez presented the paper Generative Fabrication of Medical Images for Machine Learning Training at the 37th IEEE/SBC International Symposium on Computer Architecture and High Performance Computing (SBAC-PAD 2025), held from 28–31 October 2025 in Bonito, Brazil. The research was led by the CICESE Research Center in collaboration with NCI CCC postdoctoral researchers Jorge Mario Cortés-Mendoza and Luis Bernardo Pulido-Gaytan, alongside international partners from the North-Caucasus Federal University and the University of São Paulo.

The study explores the use of generative techniques to produce synthetic medical imaging data, enabling more effective training of machine learning models for Alzheimer's detection in contexts where real-world datasets are limited or privacy-sensitive. The findings represent a significant step towards more accurate, scalable, and ethically responsible AI systems for medical diagnostics. 

The full publication is available via the NORMA@NCI Library repository: https://norma.ncirl.ie/9008/