In parallel with the 3rd Global Innopolis Forum and the 2nd Leaders Assembly, Málaga 2026 convened three Action Group Workshops and a dedicated R&D Roundtable across the three-day program, collectively engaging 25 participants from 18 institutions across all six member regions. These sessions marked a defining first for GINI: universities, research institutes, and public agencies convening together under the network's Action Group framework — extending collaboration beyond intergovernmental dialogue and laying a multi-stakeholder foundation for future joint initiatives.
Workshop I brought together faculty researchers from Hanbat National University (Daejeon) and the University of Málaga in a joint session exploring complementary research strengths across bio-materials, sustainable nanomaterials, marine biotechnology, and climate-responsive urban design. The session identified concrete potential for joint research and technology commercialization, with particular scope for linking Hanbat's startup support infrastructure with Málaga's capabilities in bio and nano materials.
Workshop II — "Winning Together: Shared Strategies for International Investment and Business Attraction" — convened representatives from economic development agencies and city governments across all six member regions in a case-sharing and discussion format. The session confirmed strong potential for a GINI Joint Global Startup Support Framework and identified testbed collaboration opportunities across strategic industries, including Daejeon's ABCD sectors, Québec's battery and quantum clusters, Seattle's ICT and aerospace industries, and Montgomery County's bio-health and cybersecurity specializations.
Workshop III brought together AI researchers from Chungnam National University, KAIST, FH Dortmund, ISST Dortmund, IVADO Québec, and the University of Málaga to explore collaboration across AI-driven urban services, smart mobility, healthcare, and data infrastructure. Three primary areas of joint potential emerged: AI-driven urban services linking Daejeon's AI Master Plan with Dortmund's digital twin capabilities; international joint research in AI healthcare connecting KAIST's smart hospital technology with Málaga's agentic AI research; and a broader AI ecosystem partnership modeled on IVADO's industry-academia-government approach.
The R&D Roundtable — "Exploring Strategic Synergies for Global Joint Projects" — brought together senior researchers and institutional leaders from KAIST, ETRI, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, TU Dortmund, PRIMA Québec, and IVADO in an open discussion format. Participants converged on artificial intelligence and quantum technology as shared priority areas, and identified talent development, research commercialization, and access to international joint funding as common challenges. The session confirmed GINI's potential as a meaningful facilitator of direct inter-institutional collaboration — one grounded in trust, clarity of roles, and flexible cooperation structures.
Taken together, these four sessions represent a structural turning point in GINI's institutional trajectory. For the first time, the network's collaborative reach extended meaningfully beyond heads of government and senior officials to encompass the researchers, institutions, and agencies that will ultimately drive joint initiatives forward. The thematic breadth across sessions — from technology commercialization and inward investment attraction to AI applications and frontier research collaboration — signals that GINI's member regions share not only a governance framework but a substantive innovation agenda with real points of intersection. The multi-stakeholder turn is not incidental — it is the precondition for GINI to generate the concrete joint initiatives its founding vision called for, and Málaga 2026 has laid the groundwork for exactly that.
