Sandboxing the AI Sandboxes: Opportunities and Practical Challenges

  • Panel
  • Maritime
  • Wednesday 20.05 — 16:00 - 17:15

Organising Institution

EDPS

Belgium

The European Data Protection Supervisor is an independent supervisory authority, with responsibility for monitoring the processing of personal data by the EU institutions and bodies, advising on policies and legislation that affect privacy and cooperating with similar authorities at national level. The EDPS remit includes: • developing and communicating an overall vision, thinking in global terms and proposing concrete recommendations; • providing policy guidance to meet new challenges in the area of data protection; • operating at the highest levels and developing effective relationships with diverse stakeholders in other EU institutions, Member States, non EU countries and other national or international organisations. Under the AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), the European Data Protection Supervisor is now the Market surveillance authority for EUIs’ AI systems and a notified body for high-risk AI assessments
  • Academic 2
  • Business 1
  • Policy 3
The EU AI Act establishes AI regulatory sandboxes as a promising mechanism to support flexibility and innovation, while simultaneously fostering compliance and regulatory learning. Over recent years, a number of sandboxes have emerged across the EU, differing in scope, design and coordination mechanisms. As the establishment of regulatory sandboxes by August 2026 is a legal obligation for all EU Member States, and as more actors begin to experiment with sandbox concepts, this is a timely opportunity to take stock of existing experiences. By drawing on insights from stakeholders who have pioneered AI innovation testbeds, the CPDP panel members will explore the opportunities and practical challenges of AI regulatory sandboxes. This will help stakeholders learn from each other's experiences and enable more actors to successfully design sandboxes under the AI Act that generate actionable learnings for compliance and deliver societal value.

Questions to be answered

  1. How do EU countries and EU institutions plan and operationalise regulatory sandboxes under the AI Act and what are the benefits of different approaches and design choices?
  2. What challenges do different stakeholders encounter when setting up and participating in regulatory sandboxes?
  3. To which extent are sandbox outcomes transferable across jurisdictions, sectors and providers, and what value do they actually deliver beyond accelerated market entry?
  4. How can we maximize sandbox spillover effect, assist providers in navigating complex compliance landscape and enhance regulatory learning?

Moderator

Leonardo Cervera Navas

EDPS - Europe

Leonardo Cervera Navas is the Secretary General of the European Data Protection Supervisor. He holds a Law degree from the University of Málaga, an EU Law master’s degree from the University of Granada and a post-graduate diploma in HR management by Kingston University (UK). Leonardo is a former fellow at Duke University (US) and is currently a Member of the Malaga Academy of Sciences (correspondent in Brussels). Working in the Data Protection field in the EU institutions since 1999, he joined the EDPS in 2010 and was appointed Secretary General in 2023. As Head of the Secretariat, he sits at the Management Board of the EDPS, advises the Supervisor and is in charge of the coordination and implementation of the strategies and policies of the institution.

Speaker

Aleida Alcaide

Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service - Spain

Aleida Alcaide García assumed the position of Director General of Artificial Intelligence at the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service. She leads Spain's representation on AIrelated matters and is responsible for proposing and implementing public policies in Spain related to AI and other digital technologies, as quantum technologies. Her responsibilities encompass the AI promotion adoption in productive sectors and public administrations, the innovative research on AI and other digital technologies, the development and coordination of regulations, the protection of rights in this field, as well as creating spaces for public debate on the risks and benefits of these technologies. She is also a board member of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of AI. In the public sector, she held roles such as Chief of Cabinet at the State Secretariat for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, was a board member of different public entities as related to digitalization, innovation and cybersecurity and served as Deputy Director-General for Coordination of European Funds at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, overseeing the execution of funds allocated to digitalization under the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan. Aleida holds the degree of Telecommunications Engineer from the Valladolid University, she completed the Leadership Program for Public Management at IESE Business School, and she is member of the Superior Body of Information Systems and Technologies and the Computer Management of the General State Administration.

Speaker

Antonino Rotolo

University of Bologna - Italy

Antonino Rotolo is a professor and international expert in Legal Theory and AI & Law at the University of Bologna. He has held several institutional leadership roles, most notably serving as Vice Rector for Research at the University of Bologna from 2015 to 2021. He currently serves as Head of the Alma Mater Research Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and plays leading roles in the Italian National Centre for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing, where he co-leads both the Ethics and Data Governance Board and the Research Group on Societal Implications and Impact. His current research and coordination efforts are at the forefront of AI regulation. Since 2024, he has served as Project Coordinator for the European research project EUSAiR, focused on EU regulatory sandboxes for AI. He oversees Data Ethics for the “Digital Twin Bologna” project, is WP Leader in the AISHA (Artificial Intelligence Skill Hub Academy) project, serves as AI Ecosystem Expert in the DTA (Digital Transformation Accelerator), and is Task Lead for AI Trust with the National Cybersecurity Agency in IT4LIA, the Italian AI Factory.