I.S.I. is a non-profit research institute with a goal to improve the national economy and public welfare. This goal is realized by achieving scientific excellence and by making a multitude of diverse contributions towards increasing competitiveness and improving quality of life. I.S.I. encourages research that achieves excellence in science and technology, that supports education and social training, that influences public policy, that benefits society and the environment, that helps companies to be better managed or create new products and that increases employment contributing to economic development.
Science and Technology
ISI has been a leading contributor of research results in the area of industrial systems. Its researchers disseminate their results through publications in scientific journals, books, and international conferences. Importantly, the institute places strong emphasis on applied results that are demonstrated through prototype development. Its prototypes are used a basis for collaborative work with external organizations, in efforts to disseminate the results and impact advanced products and services.
Through the years, ISI has participated in more than 100 projects funded by the Greek Government, the European Commission and the private sector in Europe and the USA. Its projects are characterized by strong collaboration with industrial partners, nationally and internationally, because of its focus to practical results.
ISI has been active in several collaborative efforts, consortia and platforms. It is a member of the European Technology Platform ARTEMIS and the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM).
Education and social training
ISI puts significant emphasis on education and training, involving regular teaching in higher-education organizations, graduate and doctoral theses supervision, training to Erasmus students and to a large number of technicians, engineers and researchers employed in research projects. Furthermore, it has developed and installed educational applications in several schools in Peloponnese and the Region of Western Greece. ISI collaborates closely with Universities in Greece and abroad. Importantly, ISI participates in RISE projects of the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie framework, promoting scientist and researcher secondments between companies and ISI.
ISI contributes to social training through active participation in exhibitions and special sessions in general public events, such as the Development Forum annual events in Patras, the Researchers’ Night series in Patras and Athens the PatrasIQ series of technology transfer exhibition and conference in Patras, and the Patras Science Festival.
Public Policy
ISI is active in shaping policy making. At the regional level, ISI is a member of the AgriFood non-profit organization in Western Greece and a member of ACHAIA Development. ISI’s Chair of Scientific Council is a member of Regional Council of Research and Innovation for the Region of Western Greece. Furthermore, ISI was a member of Working Group 3 “ICT & e-Goverment” in the initiative “Patras: A smart city” organized by the Municipality of Patras, in order to design its policy and plan to evolve Patras in a modern smart city.
At the national level, ISI has collaborated with public organizations, such as the Center for Security Studies of the Ministry for Citizen Protection (KEMEA), and the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy, influencing strategy and policy for national security; additionally, it is an active collaborator of the Ministry of Defense in the design of industrial incidents for a national cybersecurity exercise.
At the European level, ISI conducted a foresight exercise for ICT in Southeast Europe, to contribute to the formation of national and regional policies for the use of ICT in the region (project «FORSEE»). The Director of ISI is a member of the ARTEMIS Scientific Council.
ISI also influences policy at an international level, since its Director is a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society.
Society and environment
ISI focuses its R&D on high added value sectors that are directly applicable to industry and other domains of modern life. In this context, it contributes actively with its R&D results to the shaping of the industry and society of tomorrow. Its work in manufacturing, transport, health, security and safety, power systems and management have provided direct contributions.
Protection of the environment is one of the major goals of the institute. ISI seeks the introduction of research results that facilitate environmentally friendly systems and services. Its models for intelligent control of power energy lead to reduction of dependence on fossil fuels or natural gas for energy production as well as to reduction of the negative environmental effects of thermal power stations. Research in the area of smart public buildings leads to models and applications to reduce energy consumption. In general, ISI contributes to the reduction of the carbon footprint of individuals and manufacturing activities by (i) changing mindsets and fostering environmental consciousness towards collectiveness and sustainability, (ii) helping industries adopt highly accurate resilience-oriented operations and health and safety provisions, (iii) allowing for the substitution of industrial functions and processes by their digital counterparts and (iv) offering valuable input in the entire spectrum of sustainability-related policies.
ISI’s work on cybersecurity, especially for industrial control systems, which addresses cyber-attacks and failures in the same framework, promotes the resilience of critical infrastructures, leading to safe operations that avoid accidents, malfunctions and malicious interventions and protect the environment in addition human life.
Industry and economy
ISI targets to improve competitiveness and flexibility of the Greek and European industry through innovation. Its contributions include: a) independent assistance provided to firms in Greece, in the framework of industrial research development programs, b) collaborative research and development projects with national and European industry, contributing to high added value sectors such as embedded systems, information and communication technologies, health management, manufacturing systems, transportation and energy, c) research and development associated with cyberphysical systems and the Industrial Internet of Things, a global dynamic sector that drives novel paradigms like Smart Cities, and d) development of a secure architecture for the Industry to migrate their legacy and heterogeneous services, applications, systems and devices.
ISI is continuously spending significant effort to reduce the gap between research and industry, targeting transfer of knowledge and technological know-how to local and international Industry. ISI focuses on direct collaboration with private sector, providing its research findings for the improvement of existing products or the design of new ones. Furthermore, ISI’s presence in mixed private sector-research consortia for the implementation of funding R&D projects provides an opportunity to identify enterprises’ problems and to provide solutions with state-of-art technologies and methods. The institute participates in development companies that promote technology transfer to the industry such as AgroFood Partnership of Western Greece Region and Achaia Development Agency S.A. (Local Authority).
ISI is a significant employer of highly qualified personnel, in a vulnerable region such as Western Greece, having provided employment to more than 100 collaborating researchers.