Slovakia has a significant strategic advantage in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in its deployment within industry. This was stated at the Spring ITAPA 2026 conference by the Slovak Government’s Special Representative for AI, Radoslav Štefánek. He went on to say that the country possesses a unique combination of stable energy production, ready-to-use infrastructure in former industrial sites, and a highly automated industrial sector. Experts participating in the discussion also highlighted the role of education, an area in which Slovakia is currently implementing reforms.
The government representative sees great potential in connecting data centers with the automotive industry, where autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots could be produced in the future. Slovakia has favourable conditions for building data centers thanks to its nuclear power plants and modern electricity distribution network. According to Štefánek, however, the country should not focus on constructing massive facilities with capacities exceeding 50 megawatts intended for global technology giants, known as hyperscalers. Instead, Slovak capacities could, within the framework of European cooperation, serve purposes such as secure data storage for a European government or powering supercomputers.
The government representative also urged companies and public institutions not to strive for perfectly optimized solutions before taking action, but rather to launch projects quickly. In his view, an 80-percent solution is often sufficient, and what matters most is completing pilot projects within a short timeframe. Thanks to Europe’s increasing independence from technology solutions originating in the United States, Štefánek believes that even small and medium-sized Slovak companies now have an opportunity to compete with global players.
According to the envoy, public administration also has an opportunity to undergo inexpensive and straightforward digital transformation due to the growing accessibility of technology. The ambition is to begin with smaller pilot projects aimed at automating administrative routines, such as evaluating applications for EU funding programs. “The final decision will still be made by a human. But when it comes to the labour-intensive evaluation process, this technology can provide tremendous assistance,” he explained.
Radoslav Baťo Varga from the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic echoed Štefánek’s assertion that Slovakia is ahead in many aspects of AI adoption at the conference. Since last September, the ministry has been revising formal documents and educational programs at all levels of schooling with the goal of developing an AI-literate generation as well as training new specialists. “I dare say that in the field of AI education, Slovakia is ahead of the curve and belongs among the leaders in this area, at least within the European context,” said Baťo Varga.
He also added that two new AI competence centers will be established in Bratislava and Košice starting in September, each receiving a grant of six million euros. At the same time, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU)and the Technical University of Košice (TUKE), in cooperation with the global technology company NVIDIA, are launching an international study program focused on AI.
Peter Trajlinek of Aricoma also affirmed Slovakia’s position as one of the leaders in AI education. According to him, Slovakia’s progress is recognized and appreciated by international manufacturers. However, he warned that technology is advancing extremely rapidly and that the greatest challenge for the government will be maintaining continuity in the processes that have been established.
“Continuity is something we have a persistent problem with. What the team at the Ministry of Education is doing—and it’s not only education—we need to allow them to continue doing it in the future as well. That means not stopping them and not starting over from scratch,” Trajlinek concluded.
Source: TASR
