What's up

Industry does not suffer from a lack of data. It suffers from a lack of ability to turn that data into meaningful decisions, at the right place and at the right time.

Machines, sensors, software platforms and connected infrastructures generate unprecedented volumes of information, on a factory floor as much as in logistics, mobility or energy. Yet data alone creates little value. What matters is the ability to transform information into insight, insight into action, and action into measurable impact.

The difference is subtle, and it changes everything, the volume of data a company holds says little about the decisions it is actually able to make.

This is the challenge at the heart of Digital & Intelligent, one of A6K’s thematics. From artificial intelligence and data analytics to digital twins, computer vision, high-performance computing and cloud infrastructure, the objective is not simply to develop new technologies. It is to put them within reach of the people who actually run operations, at a moment when Belgium and Europe are working to rebuild their industrial base and regain control of the technologies they depend on.

Virtual Lab and Lucia, the compute foundation

One of the most significant initiatives is Virtual Lab, supported by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the Wallonia 2021-2027 Programme. Its purpose is to make advanced simulation, optimization and design more accessible to industrial organizations of all sizes.

At its core lies high-performance computing and, more specifically, Lucia. The objective is not merely to accelerate calculations. It is to let companies test a design a hundred times in simulation before committing a single resource in the real world.

The project pursues four priorities, making HPC accessible to industry, exploring emerging architectures such as GPUs and quantum technologies, strengthening simulation and optimization, and bridging engineering with disciplines such as animation and video games.

These priorities are already taking concrete shape. One line of work uses extended reality to make physical phenomena observable in ways a screen cannot. By modelling how heat spreads across a plate as it warms up, engineers can inspect potential defects inside an immersive environment rather than on a static dashboard.

Another focuses on accessibility rather than raw power. A Python plugin lets teams reach Lucia directly from the AI and machine learning frameworks they already use, removing much of the technical friction that usually stands between a data scientist and a supercomputer. The value lies less in the hardware than in who can now actually use it.

This rests on more than infrastructure. Lucia is operated by Cenaero, the applied research centre founded in 2002 and recognized for its work in high-fidelity simulation, optimization and data analytics, whose technologies support leaders such as Airbus, Alstom, Safran and Sonaca. Wallonia's Tier-1 supercomputer, inaugurated at A6K in 2022, delivers a measured 2.78 PFlops. But its real significance is access, SMEs, start-ups and research teams can now reach resources once confined to large industrial or academic environments.

From raw data to usable intelligence

Computing power is only the starting point. Before it can support a decision, raw data has to become usable, which is where CETIC contributes its know-how in software engineering, data engineering and data valorization, helping organizations transform raw information into actionable intelligence.

The rapid rise of generative AI has added both excitement and uncertainty to this picture. The question is no longer whether organizations should explore these technologies. The challenge is understanding how to integrate them into existing workflows in a way that delivers measurable value.

Sagacify provides a concrete example. Founded in Belgium and active in Brussels and Charleroi, the company deploys AI for document- and knowledge-intensive processes such as information extraction, content classification, workflow automation and customer support. Its approach is built around a simple principle, successful AI adoption requires integration into operational processes while keeping humans in control of critical decisions.

In practice, the hardest part is rarely the model itself. It is integrating it into an existing workflow without losing control of the decisions that matter. Across sectors, Sagacify shows what Digital & Intelligent means in practice, not AI as a showcase, but AI that operates inside real organizations and supports measurable outcomes.

Bringing AI closer to the point of action

The next frontier for industrial AI is not simply making systems smarter. It is making them faster, more autonomous and more responsive to conditions on the ground.

Multitel brings recognized expertise in signal and image processing, AI and embedded systems, developing vision solutions for industrial and mobility applications where machines must interpret their environment, exactly what the next demonstrator at A6K will put to work.

A6K will soon host an AI-powered edge vision demonstrator that processes video and sensor data on-site, where operations happen, rather than in a distant cloud, cutting latency, strengthening data control and opening new categories of industrial applications.

But the case for processing data on-site is not only technical. It is also about sovereignty and control. Keeping sensitive streams within the organization means a company keeps mastery over its own process, its own data and its own compliance, whether it runs a production line, a logistics hub or an energy site.

Capable of handling several 1080p video streams at once, it will showcase use cases such as protective-equipment detection, GDPR-compliant anonymization and restricted-area monitoring, along with a Vision Language Model that interprets complex scenes from natural language prompts. Installed in an environment representative of real industrial complexity, it lets A6K members test their own scenarios before committing to larger deployments.

From concept to proof

None of this creates value until it holds up under real conditions. This is where Sirris completes the picture, helping concepts become demonstrable results. Through testing facilities, validation capabilities and engineering expertise, it helps organizations understand how technologies perform under genuine operational conditions.

Together, these actors create an environment where innovation can move more quickly from concept to application.

For all this progress, much of this intelligence still lives too far from where decisions are actually made and actions actually happen. Closing that gap is exactly what comes next.

Imagining the future of edge cloud infrastructure

Moonshot, an initiative led by Proximus that explores an ambitious vision for Belgium's digital future, turning national telecommunications infrastructure, from data centres to street cabinets, into a distributed, sovereign and multi-tenant edge cloud.

The rationale is straightforward. As drones, robots, connected vehicles and intelligent industrial equipment multiply, processing data at the point of action becomes critical, and a few milliseconds of latency can separate a system that reacts in time from one that reacts too late.

The day is built in two parts. In the morning, an invite-only ideation hackathon will bring together innovators across utilities, transport and mobility, media and XR, defense and dual-use applications and healthcare to turn these challenges into concrete proposals.

In the afternoon, a public keynote session will bring high-level political, institutional and industry figures on stage, including Belgium's Federal Minister for SMEs Eléonore Simonet, the Mayor of Charleroi Thomas Dermine, a representative of the Belgian Defence and Proximus CEO Stijn Bijnens, to share their vision for the reindustrialization of Belgium and Europe, the future of edge cloud and digital sovereignty.

More than an event, Moonshot reflects a broader reality, digital infrastructure is becoming a strategic asset for industrial resilience, competitiveness and sovereignty, and A6K is one of the places where these conversations become concrete initiatives.

Turning digital potential into industrial capability

Digital & Intelligent is less a technology domain than a reflection of a broader industrial shift, one where competitive advantage, and a measure of strategic autonomy, depends on the ability to understand, simulate, predict and act. A6K makes that ambition concrete. Through Virtual Lab, Lucia, demonstrators that make AI tangible and partners that bridge research and industry, it helps turn what is technically possible into something companies can actually use.

Because the future of industry will not be defined by the amount of data available. It will be defined by what we are able to do with it.

The future of industry will depend on how closely we bring intelligence to where decisions are made and actions take place.

On June 29, join us at A6K for the public Moonshot keynote to see how leaders from industry, research and public institutions are shaping Belgium's digital future.