On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, a ceremony was held to mark the beginning of construction of the ARNES Data Center Maribor with the laying of the foundation stone, speeches and two roundtable discussions.
The foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr. Igor Papič and the Director of the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) Mag. Marko Bonač.
A recording of the ceremonial event and statements is available on the ARNES Video portal.
The speeches were followed by the first panel discussion “Science as a Priority for Slovenia”, featuring insights from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Robert Golob, the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr. Igor Papič, the Minister for Digital Transformation, Mag. Ksenija Klampfer, Director of ARNES Mag. Marko Bonač , Director of the Institute of Information Science Dr. Aleš Bošnjak, Director of the National Institute of Chemistry Prof. Dr. Gregor Anderluh, and General Director of Dravske Elektrarne, Mag. Damjan Seme. .
The second panel focused on the relevance and importance of unified research infrastructure and included researchers from Slovenian public research organizations: Dr. Marko Drobnjak, open science expert at ARNES; SLING consortium coordinator Dr. Samo Stanič (University of Nova Gorica); Dr. Sašo Džeroski (Jožef Stefan Institute), one of the lead figures in developing the concept of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory; Dr. Andrej Filipčič (Jožef Stefan Institute), who designed the architecture of the current Vega system; Dr. Jan Jona Javoršek, Head of the Network Infrastructure Centre at the Jožef Stefan Institute; Dr. Jana Kolar, Director of the National and University Library, former Executive Director of CERIC-ERIC and former Chair of ESFRI; Dr. Darja Fišer, Executive Director of CLARIN-ERIC and coordinator of DARIAH-SI; Dr. Špela Vintar, researcher at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana; Dr. Matej Praprotnik (National Institute of Chemistry), Chair of the PRACE Scientific Steering Committee and Head of the EuroHPC Centre of Excellence; and Dr. Ajasja Ljubetič, researcher at the National Institute of Chemistry.
Recordings of both panel discussions are also available on the ARNES Video portal.
One of the key functions of the centre will be to host the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory (SLAIF) – a national project selected for co-financing under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. This will provide Slovenia not only with a strategic space for AI development, but also with a visible position in the European network of data analytics and high-performance computing, linking science, the public sector, and industry.
More information about the Data Centre Maribor construction project is available on the ARNES website.
