Prof. Catarina Ferreira da Silva
Talk Title
Trusted Intelligence: Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Data for the Future of Digital Ecosystems
Abstract
This keynote explores the convergence of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Smart Data as a foundation for trusted, intelligent, and data-driven digital ecosystems. While AI enables advanced prediction, automation, and decision-making support, its effectiveness depends on high-quality, contextualised, and actionable data. Blockchain can strengthen this environment by providing transparency, traceability, decentralised trust, and secure data governance.
The talk discusses how Smart Data moves beyond the volume-centred logic of Big Data by focusing on relevance, quality, and usability. It also examines how Blockchain can support trustworthy data sharing, auditability, and provenance, while AI transforms this data into insight and decision-making support. Together, these technologies open new possibilities in healthcare, finance, supply chains, public administration, education, and smart cities.
The keynote highlights both opportunities and challenges: interoperability, privacy, ethical AI, regulatory compliance, data ownership, digital product passports and sustainability. Ultimately, it argues that the future of digital innovation depends on building trustworthy, human-centred systems where data is intelligent, secure, and responsibly used — illustrated through the Horizon Europe funded project RETIME (Grant Agreement ID 101147113).
Biography
Catarina Ferreira da Silva, PhD in Informatics (2007), is Associate Professor (2021) with Habilitation in Information Sciences and Technologies (2020), at the Department of Information Science and Technology of the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE), Portugal.
She is the Director of the Information Sciences, Technologies and Architecture Research Centre (ISTAR-Iscte), 2023–2026, and integrated member of the Information Systems group of ISTAR-Iscte. She was the Director of the Master programme in Information Systems Management (2022–2025) at ISCTE.
Her research spans blockchain, decentralised ledger technologies, AI applications and information systems interoperability. She has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, international conferences and book chapters.