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Artificial intelligence is reshaping the geography of digital infrastructure. According to McKinsey, between €240 billion and €289 billion in investment will be required by 2030 to meet growing demand for data center capacity in Europe, with installed capacity expected to increase from approximately 10 GW today to 35 GW within the next five years.

As demand for computing power accelerates worldwide, access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy is becoming a decisive factor in determining where AI-ready infrastructure and data centers will be deployed. Recognizing this trend, Portugal has made the attraction of data centers and digital infrastructure a strategic national priority, with recent government initiatives aiming to position the country as a leading European hub for digital infrastructure and data processing, what some have described as a new epicenter for AI infrastructure.

Beyond its strategic geographic position and international connectivity, the country benefits from a diversified and increasingly renewable energy mix, combining hydropower, wind, solar and biomass resources. This combination offers both sustainability and resilience, two attributes that are becoming increasingly valuable as AI-driven workloads place growing demands on energy systems. Energy is no longer simply an operational input for digital infrastructure; it has become a determining factor in the viability, competitiveness, and sustainability of AI-ready data center projects.

Yet this opportunity raises a fundamental question: how can Portugal transform its energy advantage into a sustained, long-term competitive advantage in the AI era?

Looking ahead to 2030, important scientific, technological and infrastructure challenges remain to be addressed. How can energy systems accommodate increasingly dynamic AI workloads? How should power grids evolve to support large-scale computing infrastructure? How can advanced computing become more energy efficient? What innovations are needed in data center hardware architectures, energy storage, generation adequacy, grid management, grid stability impacts and solutions, power quality, and sustainable computing to ensure that digital growth remains compatible with energy security and decarbonisation goals?

This session will explore the research and innovation agenda needed to build Portugal’s energy backbone for its digital future and for Europe’s. Bringing together perspectives from academia and industry, the discussion will examine how international research partnerships can help address these challenges.

Particular attention will be given to the role of the UT Austin Portugal Program and the opportunities created by collaboration between Portuguese institutions and UT Austin. As one of the world’s most dynamic environments for AI-driven growth, Texas offers a unique real-world laboratory where the expansion of advanced computing, data centers, and energy infrastructure is taking place at unprecedented scale. The experience of organizations such as the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) provides valuable insights into the growing interdependence between computing capacity, energy availability and infrastructure planning.

By connecting Portugal’s emerging ambitions with lessons from Texas, the session will explore how collaborative transatlantic research can help develop new solutions in areas such as sustainable computing, grid resilience, and next-generation energy storage systems.

Ultimately, the discussion will consider how research, innovation, and international collaboration can help Portugal move beyond hosting data centers to becoming a global reference in the technologies and knowledge required to power the AI economy.

Today, it is undeniable that Generative Artificial Intelligence is profoundly transforming teaching, learning, and creation – universities are at a cross-roads. In just a few years, tools capable of writing, drawing, composing, programming, and answering complex questions have become widely accessible, radically altering how students acquire knowledge and bring ideas to life. GenAI tools are massive learning accelerators that expand our working memory and reasoning capabilities: we can now merge the knowledge of multiple texts to obtain answers at the click of a button. Knowledge is undergoing a transformation comparable to the industrial revolution in manufacturing: it’s immediate and it’s cheap.

Universities serve as vital pillars of modern society, driving progress through research and innovation, professional training, civic engagement, and public leadership. They have long stood as hubs of expertise and leading innovators across the physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Specializing in foundational and frontier knowledge, universities teach students how to develop critical thinking and envision breakthrough inventions. This has always been Universities’ core asset.

In this session, we will discuss how universities should transform to continue relevant and at the forefront.

The challenges are innumerable. Early critics argued that, according to Bloom's Taxonomy of learning skills, creativity would remain uniquely human because AI could not reach those cognitive levels. Today, that assumption is being directly challenged.

At the same time, GenAI is accelerating and personalizing education, expanding human capabilities, and opening up new possibilities for creative expression. We will also reflect on the emerging ethical challenges and the future of this revolution, which is already redefining multiple dimensions of society.

Structured education remains fundamental within universities. It is here that we shape the next generation of experts and prepare the workforce to build our shared future. Universities do not operate on a five-year horizon; they plan for the long term visions. And that is our ultimate challenge.

The technologies shaping the next decade are emerging at the intersection of scientific disciplines. Advances in space, artificial intelligence, energy, semiconductors and nanotechnology, climate science, Earth systems, digital manufacturing, and sustainable cities are creating new opportunities to address global challenges while strengthening economic competitiveness.

These fields are increasingly interconnected. AI is accelerating scientific discovery and transforming manufacturing. Advances in semiconductors and nanotechnology are enabling new sensors, materials, and energy systems. Space technologies and Earth observation are improving our understanding of oceans, climate, and the atmosphere. Together, these innovations are opening new pathways toward more sustainable industries, resilient infrastructure, and smarter cities.

For Portugal, these developments offer opportunities to build on existing scientific and industrial strengths while expanding into emerging technology sectors. The MIT Portugal Program provides a platform for advancing these opportunities through collaborative research, education, and engagement with industry.

Yet the transition from scientific discovery to practical impact remains challenging. Scaling technologies, integrating them into existing systems, developing a skilled workforce, and bringing innovations to market require sustained partnerships across academia, industry, and government.

This session will feature three MIT Portugal projects illustrating different dimensions of this transformation:

• AI-Driven Friction Stir Deposition: MIT and the University of Porto are applying AI and advanced manufacturing to improve the repair and production of aerospace structures, supporting industrial innovation and resource efficiency.
• AstroBit: MIT and Instituto Superior Técnico are developing accessible small-satellite technologies and educational capabilities, advancing space engineering and its potential applications.
• Core-Sheath Yarns: MIT and the University of Minho are developing sustainable, multifunctional textiles with applications in protective systems, healthcare, and demanding environments.

Together, these projects demonstrate how international research collaboration can connect scientific advances with industrial and societal needs.

The moderated discussion will extend beyond the individual projects to explore the convergence of the eight technology areas, Portugal's opportunities for international leadership, and the challenges of translating research into economic and societal impact.

The central question is how MIT Portugal can leverage interdisciplinary research and international partnerships to turn emerging technologies into tangible benefits for industry, society, and the environment over the next decade.