The foundation stone was unveiled 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.

The data centre, established by Arnes – a public infrastructure institution with a long-standing tradition in providing network services for research, education, and culture – will serve as an integrated hub for high-performance computing resources, the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory, the permanent storage of research data, and infrastructure supporting open science. It is designed in accordance with the highest international standards, located next to the Maribor Island Hydroelectric Power Plant, and directly connected to the European research backbone via the pan-European GÉANT network.

“When I announced last autumn in the United States that the future will be shaped by countries capable of linking science, technology, and solidarity, I had precisely this project in mind”, stated the Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob. “We are bringing together data collected from various locations, and I believe even from Slovenian satellites”, he added. “This is a place where high-performance computing capacity and the Artificial Intelligence Factory come together, and we are also integrating a sustainability component. On one hand, the centre is powered by clean energy from the Drava River, and on the other, it makes use of waste heat to provide heating for the city of Maribor”.

“With today’s signing of the contract and the laying of the foundation stone, we are entering the second phase of the data centre construction project”, said the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Igor Papič, during the foundation stone ceremony. “This represents extremely important infrastructure for the final implementation of the open science concept, with a complementary part of the centre located at Arnes’ premises”, the Minister added. “A permanent repository for important research data will also be established at the existing data centre in Ljubljana. This means that research data will be stored at two separate locations, significantly improving the security of data management”, Dr Papič further explained.

“The primary purpose of Arnes’ data centre in Maribor is to host the future supercomputer that Slovenia has obtained – or will soon obtain, as the funding application was successful. The second goal is to provide storage for research data required by open science, and the third is to offer research institutions and universities the opportunity to install and host their own equipment here”, explained Arnes’ Director, Mag. Marko Bonač. “This is a long-term investment in open science, technological independence, and sustainable development – in the service of knowledge accessible to the entire Slovenian research community”.

A recording of the official event and the participants’ statements is available on the Arnes Video portal: https://video.arnes.si/watch/d2vvspk7v7wh

Science as a Priority for Slovenia

Following the opening speeches, the first roundtable discussion took place, featuring the Prime Minister, the Minister of Science, Higher Education and Innovation, and the directors of public institutions that contributed to the Arnes Data Centre project, the Vega 2 supercomputer, and the associated Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory. The roundtable, titled “Science as a Priority for Slovenia”, brought together the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Robert Golob; the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Igor Papič; the Director of Arnes, Mag. Marko Bonač; the Minister for Digital Transformation, Mag. Ksenija Klampfer; the Director of IZUM, Dr Aleš Bošnjak; the Director of the National Institute of Chemistry, Prof. Dr Gregor Anderluh; and the General Director of Dravske Elektrarne, Mag. Damjan Seme.

The Usefulness and Importance of a Unified Research Infrastructure

In the continuation of the event, researchers from Slovenian public research organisations highlighted the usefulness and importance of a unified research infrastructure. Among them were Dr Marko Drobnjak, an open science expert at Arnes; Dr Samo Stanič, coordinator of the SLING consortium; Dr Sašo Džeroski, one of the key contributors to the concept of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory; Dr Andrej Filipčič, the architect of the existing Vega supercomputer; 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; Dr Špela Vintar, researcher at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana; Dr Matej Praprotnik, 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 roundtable discussions are available on the Arnes Video portal: https://video.arnes.si/watch/nlzp69db5f69

Home of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory

One of the key functions of the centre will be to host the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory (SLAIF) – a national project selected for co-funding under the European joint undertaking EuroHPC JU. This will provide Slovenia not only with a strategic space for the development of artificial intelligence but also with a recognised position within the European network for data analytics and high-performance computing, connecting science, the public sector, and industry.

A Foundation for Open Science and European Integration

As the coordinator of the Slovenian National Supercomputing Network SLING, the National Competence Centre for HPC, the authorised representative of Slovenia in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and a key actor within the Slovenian Open Science Community, Arnes is establishing infrastructure through this investment that will enable Slovenian researchers to participate on equal footing in international research projects. At the same time, it will create conditions for implementing the principles of open science, responsible data stewardship, and long-term digital sustainability.

Secure, Flexible, and Professional Support

By establishing two locations – one in Maribor and, in the future, another in the vicinity of Ljubljana – Arnes is creating conditions for infrastructure redundancy, ensuring secure, flexible, and expert support for the research community at all levels.

The opening of the data centre in 2026 will not only mark the completion of a construction project but will also solidify the country’s vision of recognising science as the driving force of its progress. This facility will stand as a testament to the commitment to investing in knowledge, where the foundation of the future lies in people who, supported by infrastructure, create the fundamental conditions for a high value-added, future-oriented society.

Sustainable Design of the Data Centre

The data centre will have two floors and cover an area of 1,800 square metres. It has been designed with sustainability in mind, as it will be built on the grounds of Dravske Elektrarne. It will be directly connected via an electric conduit to the Maribor Island Hydroelectric Power Plant, allowing it to harness the energy potential of the Drava River. As the operation of the centre and the supercomputer will generate waste heat, a Letter of Intent was signed following the foundation stone ceremony to participate in the project “Utilisation Waste Heat from the Arnes Data Centre and Supercomputer in Maribor”.

The project is financed by the European Union under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. All information on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in the Republic of Slovenia is available at noo.gov.si.

Further information about the Maribor Data Centre project can be found on the Arnes website.

Recording of the Ceremonial Event

Recordings of Both Roundtable Discussions