Dr. Sanaz Nikghadam-Hojjati has been a Senior Researcher at UNINOVA since 2018, an invited lecturer at NOVA University Lisbon since 2019, and Director of the WoSTEM Initiative since 2020. She co-founded the Iranian Scientific Association for Information System Management in 2018 and is involved with CTS, SFCOLAB (Portugal), and CNR-ISTI (Italy). With over 12 years of teaching experience, she earned her PhD and Master degrees in Information Technology Management (2017-2011) and a BSc in Mathematics (2005). At UNINOVA, she focuses on robotics and smart industry within the RICS research group, leading European projects and participating in national initiatives. Her research spans Creative Robotics, Human–Machine Interaction, Cybersecurity, Affective Computing, Gender-Responsive R&I, and emerging technologies. She has supervised and co-supervised numerous Master’s theses and several PhD students. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, co-authored several books, and actively participated as an organizer and scientific committee of scientific events. She has built a strong global academic network and promotes gender inclusion in STEM through WoSTEM. As a member of SOCOLNET, IEEE Women in Engineering, and IEEE Computer Society, she contributes to fostering collaboration and diversity in research.

EDA MARCHETTI received a degree (summa cum laude) in computer science and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Pisa.  She is currently a Senior Researcher with CNR-ISTI. She has been responsible for the CNR-ISTI of several national and international EU projects and actively participated in more than 20 national and international projects. Her research interests include software testing in general and, in particular, introducing novel methodologies for testing emerging software technologies, cybersecurity, value-based, and ethical aspects. Her research topics include security and privacy, access control systems, model-based testing, requirement management and assessment, monitoring business processes, human-centric process management and scheduling, operational and structural testing, interoperability testing, domain-specific testing, product certification, and assessment. She has coauthored more than 150 papers in international journals and conferences

Maria Gustavsson is a Full Professor in Education at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University. Her research interests focus on workplace learning, employee-driven innovation and vocational learning and education. Current research covers skills needed for the industry’s digital and green transitions.

Filipa Ferrada is an Assistant Professor at NOVA University, Lisbon, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She completed her PhD in 2017 at the same institution and is an integrated researcher at the Center of Technology and Systems (CTS) at UNINOVA, where she has been conducting research for over 20 years. Her work spans enterprise collaborative networks, distributed manufacturing, industry and services, active ageing, health care, building energy management, and sustainable water management. She has a strong interest in the development and application of cyber-physical systems, IoT, computational intelligence, cognitive systems, agent-based modeling, and system dynamics for decision-making in complex socio-technical systems. Her current research also explores the role of emotions in collaborative networks and human–AI interaction, emphasizing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles through inclusive, ethically grounded, and societally relevant research approaches. Filipa has authored numerous scientific publications and participated in various national and European R&D projects and plays an active role in the scientific community as a founding member of the Society of Collaborative Networks (SOCOLNET) and as a member of the IFIP WG 5.5 on Cooperative Virtual Enterprises. She is also involved in mentoring doctoral and master’s students and contributes to the organization of international conferences, such as DoCEIS and PRO-VE.

Ana Inês Oliveira completed her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering in June 2016 at the NOVA University of Lisbon, where she is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC). She is also an integrated member of the CTS-UNINOVA, where she conducts research in the scientific areas of robotics and integrated manufacturing, with an emphasis on enterprise collaborative networks, distributed manufacturing systems, services and industry, active ageing, and healthcare and energy management of buildings. Her main research interests include information systems, collaborative networks, cyber-physical systems, simulation techniques, agent-based modelling, human–AI interaction, decision-making, blockchain, and business models, among others. She has been involved in several European and Portuguese research projects for over 20 years and has co-authored numerous publications, including book chapters, journal articles, and papers presented at international conferences. She is actively engaged in supervising master’s and doctoral students. She is also involved in scientific societies such as the International Society for Collaborative Networks (SOCOLNET), where she was a founding member and currently serves as secretary of the board; and member of the IFIP Working Group 5.5 on Cooperation Infrastructure for Virtual Enterprises and Electronic Business (COVE – IFIP WG5.5).

Dr. Agneta Halvarsson Lundkvist is an Associate Professor at Linköping University, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning in Sweden. Her research includes studies of collaboration, learning, and innovation in both public and private sectors. She takes special interest in researching national development programmes that support multiple organizations’ change processes as they transition into new ways of working.

Anna Fogelberg Eriksson is a Senior Associate Professor in Education at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University. Her research interests focus on public sector innovation, employee-driven innovation in public sector organizations, workplace learning, and gender in organizations.

Oliviu Dorin Matei is a Romanian computer scientist currently serving as full Professor (Dr. Habil.) at the Technical University of Cluj‑Napoca and as CEO and Project Manager of HOLISUN S.R.L., an ICT company he founded. He earned an M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2002, followed by a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the Technical University of Cluj‑Napoca in 2012, and achieved habilitation in Computer Science and IT in 2016. Since 2002, he has held a faculty post at Cluj‑Napoca, supervising doctoral research in areas including evolutionary computation, data mining, robotics, and operational research. He leads innovative R&D initiatives—such as Big‑Smart‑Log, SDK4ED and MODSOIL—and holds five software patents. In recognition of his academic contributions, he was awarded the Bologna Professorship in 2019.

Prof. Dr. Jose Barata is Full Professor at the Electrical and Computing Engineering, Member of the Scientific Committee of the Doctoral Program in Electrical and Computing Engineering at the NOVA-FCT, where he is currently responsible for the courses units Robotics, Systems Integration, Telerobotics and Autonomous Systems, and Robotics Systems and CIM. He is a senior researcher at the CTS – Centre of Technology and Systems at the UNINOVA Institute, where he is also coordinating the research group RICS – Robotics and Industrial Complex Systems, that develops research in the areas of service robots and smart industry. Within the RICS group, he leads the UNINOVA participation in several international projects from different European  and Portuguese Programs in a variety of fields, particularly developing emerging technologies in different sectors. He has coordinated the participation of UNINOVA in several industrial projects related to industry 4.0 and autonomous service robots for surveillance and agriculture. He has published over 300 original papers in international journals and international conferences. He is a member of the IEEE technical committees on Industrial Agents (IES), Self-Organisation and Cybernetics for Informatics (SMC), and Education in Engineering and Industrial Technologies (IES). He is also a member of the IFAC technical committee 4.4.

Sepideh Kalateh received a B.Sc. degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering in 2012 and an M.Sc. degree in Information Technology Management in 2017, both from Islamic Azad University (IAU), Iran. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal, and is a Researcher at the CTS-UNINOVA Research Institute. Her professional background spans various industrial sectors, particularly in ICT and data management. Her current research interests include affective computing, computational creativity, and data science, with a focus on human–machine emotive interaction.

Nataša Božić (1990) holds a Master´s degree from University of Primorska/Università del Litorale in the field of Management, and a bachelor's degree in the field of Civil and environmental protection from University of Belgrade. During her studies, she demonstrated a strong interest in topics of sustainable development, nature conservation, and sustainable business practices. At the end of 2021 she started working at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering as a researcher on various EU and other projects, mostly on topics related to rural digitalization and development, data management, community involvement, and sustainable development. As part of her role, she collaborates with a wide network of organizations across Europe and beyond on both project implementation and research activities.

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Said Daoudagh is a Researcher at the Signals & Images Lab (SI-Lab) of ISTI-CNR in Pisa, Italy. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Business Informatics, summa cum laude, from the University of Pisa. He was a PostDoc Researcher at the SEDC group of ISTI-CNR and a Visiting Researcher at the IRiSC Lab, University of Luxembourg. His research interests include Dance Movement Analysis, Data Protection & Compliance, Access and Usage Control Testing, Test Cases Generation and Prioritization, and Mutation Analysis. Currently, Said is working on the impact of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) on active ageing populations, using AI for movement analysis. He is also developing solutions for GDPR compliance, focusing on Access Control technologies. Said participates in several international EU projects, including the Tuscany Health Ecosystem - THE | PNRR, CyberSec4Europe, and BIECO. He has co-authored over 50 papers in international journals and conferences.

Laura Nicoleta Andreica is a Romanian researcher and Research Assistant at HOLISUN S.R.L., where she contributes to EU‑funded R&D projects in artificial intelligence, data‑driven applications, and system optimization (research.holisun.com). She earned her B.Sc. in Computer and Software Engineering from the Technical University of Cluj‑Napoca and followed it with an M.Sc. in European Project Management (research.holisun.com). With a solid background in IoT and software development, she has co‑authored multiple academic papers—such as studies on automation, AI use in secure architectures, and machine learning for economic specialization and social fund management—in collaboration with Oliviu Matei and other experts (researchgate.net). Her work reflects a growing profile in intelligent systems and project management, positioning her as an emerging professional in the Romanian and European AI research community.