A look back at DIGISET’s big week in Amsterdam & Brussels
What does it look like when a small EU consortium tries—in a single week—to build the bridges between Artificial Intelligence, inclusive design, the social economy, and the New European Bauhaus (NEB)?
It looks like dynamic, packed rooms at Pakhuis de Zwijger and In de Waag in Amsterdam, and BeCentral in Brussels—bringing together 15 extraordinary speakers and three powerful event formats to answer one massive question: How can technology serve the common good?
As the DIGISET project gears up to wrap this August, we took a deep dive into the intersections of tech and human well-being. Here is what went down—and the core lessons every social enterprise needs to know.
🇳🇱 Stop 1: Democratizing tech in Amsterdam
On Friday, June 5, 2026, we teamed up with the PublicSpaces Conference to host two incredibly practical sessions aimed at reclaiming our digital sovereignty.
- The Workshop: Democratizing Technology in Your Organisation challenged social SMEs to rethink their tech dependencies. Inspired by the Commons Network, we walked through what it actually looks like to collectively own your organization's digital life.
- The Hackathon: Build Your Own Public Stack took theory into practice. Teams mapped out an alternative "Public Stack" for their own workflows—spanning ethics, software, design, and infrastructure layers.
🇧🇪 Stop 2: The DIGISET Forum at BeCentral (Brussels)
On Monday, June 8, 2026, the community gathered at FARI (AI for the Common Good Institute) in the heart of Brussels for a full-day forum mapping out how the NEB values—beautiful, sustainable, together—translate into concrete digital choices.
The energy was electric, moving through powerful keynotes, four panels, an immersive virtual reality experience, and funding workshops. A few major highlights included:
- Carl Maria Mörch (FARI) setting a high standard right from the start: every project discussed had to be useful to a grassroots Brussels association by the end of the week.
- Radu Surdeanu (Happonomy) delivering an unforgettable keynote arguing that the future of large-scale tech systems must interconnect AI with wisdom and human compassion.
- A Sister-Project Collaboration: A standout panel brought together representatives from DiGi-SEII (Ravi Bellardi & Adeline de Jong) and DIGIT-ABLE (Miguel Buitrago) to discuss how the social economy can collaborate on inclusive digital upskilling.
- The FARI CAVE Experience: Susheel Nath guided participants through an immersive Local Digital Twin demonstration. Stepping directly into data-driven visualizations made abstract tech concepts instantly tangible.
The afternoon rounded out with expert-led panels covering work integration (featuring ENSIE and ConcertES), global press freedom (The Guardian Foundation), and urban mobility (VUB), before ending with a hands-on Horizon Europe funding masterclass with NCP.Brussels.
3 key takeaways every social SME needs to hear
If you couldn’t make it to the rooms, these are the three threads the consortium keeps coming back to:
- Beauty is functional, not decorative: When a digital service is designed beautifully—meaning clear, accessible, and respectful—it lasts longer, builds deeper trust, and reaches further.
- AI inside the social economy isn't a side project: Algorithms are already deciding what gets funded and who gets heard. Social economy actors must be at the table when these models are designed.
- Design choices are political: Every default software or Big Tech dependency you choose is a decision about power. The NEB framing gives us the language to make those choices intentional.
What’s next?
While the DIGISET project formally closes in August, the work is just beginning. Alongside our incredible partners—including the Social Good Accelerator, Impact Hub, City of Amsterdam, Eurecat, Cluj IT, ULB, and FARI—we are already mapping out DIGISET+.
We are actively looking for new partners for upcoming Horizon Europe and COSME consortium calls for 2026–2027. If you want to build the future of inclusive design and digital sovereignty, get in touch with CollectiveUP!
