Ubiwhere (Project Coordinator) is a Research and Innovation SME, based in Portugal, developing innovative and user-centred software solutions. Since 2007, Ubiwhere has fostered a culture of innovation and creativity by delivering the solutions that their clients need to succeed. The main objective of the company is to research and develop bleeding edge technologies, design state-of-the-art solutions and create valuable intellectual property (using rich intangible assets) internally and to its clients – to achieve its vision of being an international reference in Smart Cities and Future Internet. To that end, they rely on a multi-faceted, dynamic, passionate and highly qualified team composed by Senior Executives, Researchers, Consultants, Project Managers, Creative Designers, Programmers and Quality Assurance Technicians. Ubiwhere’s activity focuses on the research and development of technologies across several markets, namely: Telecom and Future Internet; Smart Cities; Sustainable and Efficient Resource Management (Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources); Transportation, Travel, and Tourism.
Founded in 1987, ATC is an Information Technology Company (SME) offering solutions and services targeting specific sectors incl. the Media, Banking and Retail Sectors, Utilities and Public Sector Organisations as well as horizontal solutions focusing on Content Management, Enterprise Software, Web Applications, Human Capital Resource Management and eLearning, and Mobile Applications. The activities of the Company span among several countries in EU, Eastern Europe and CIS countries, as well as the Balkans.
Having acquired ISO 9001 certification since 2000, the company provides a broad spectrum of value-added products and services such as consulting, customer training, installation and maintenance, warranty and post-warranty services, SLA projects, project management, and professional support. ATC has also been certified with ISO 27001:2013 for our Information Security Management system applicable to Design, Development, Implementation and Support of ICT solutions and digital services, as well as for Technical, Business, Consulting and Project Management Services in the ICT domain.
IBM Israel Science and Technology Limited, better known as IBM Research Haifa, was first established in 1972. Since then, the lab has conducted decades of research vital to IBM’s success. The lab is one of 9 research laboratories located outside of the United States and has close working relationships with IBM Israel and its twin research laboratory in Zurich. In Haifa, there are over 500 researchers, and 25 percent of the technical staff have doctorate degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, or related fields. Employees are actively involved in teaching at Israeli higher education institutions and in supervising post-graduate theses. R&D projects are being executed today in areas such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, cognitive computing, mobile platforms, healthcare and life sciences, verification technologies, storage, and more.
The IT Innovation Centre is an applied research group advancing a wide range of information technologies and their deployment in industry, commerce and the public sector. Part of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, the Centre is an international leader in applied research in secure service-oriented systems, big data analytics for information discovery and decision support, and factors affecting user experience including technologies (e.g. augmented reality) and psycho-social aspects (e.g. trust). Our main focus is to overcome barriers to the use of novel applications or technologies arising from the business, operational or societal context in which they need to work.
We present the results of our work as software demonstrators, white papers, confidential reports and targeted academic and technical publications. Our substantial portfolio of collaborative research supported by public programmes is complemented by professional services including customer-specific and commercially confidential research and development, bespoke development of operational systems for early adopters, consultancy, and technology due diligence. We are currently working in sectors ranging from the creative industries to environment, finance, health and manufacturing. We work in a spirit of partnership, ensuring effective transfer of knowledge. We have a strong record of relevant collaborative research in UK and European programmes. We typically play a leading role to drive the development and integration of advanced solutions. We have a deep understanding of technology trends, and we are engaged with industry led bodies seeking to promote and exploit these trends including the European Technology Platforms NESSI, the 5G PPP and the Big Data Value Association (BDVA), and through standardisation bodies including CEN-CLC.
Nokia is leading a new revolution in global connectivity. The four networks businesses are enabling a new type of network, converging mobile and fixed broadband access, IP routing and optical networks, with the software and services to optimize network performance. We are seamlessly weaving together an increasingly diverse mix of technologies, to create efficient, smart, and agile networks, and enable new types of connected services, automated, secured, and managed through the Cloud.
Nokia will be represented within the FogProtect project through its Research unit “Nokia Bell Labs” and from the business side through the Global Operations organization. With major research facilities in various European countries, the USA, China and India, and from the cooperation with customers, research institutes and universities, Nokia Bell Labs contributes to the evolution of the technology base in communication networks by a deep understanding of the network operator business, addressing the requirements from traffic growth, on increasing quality of experience, on network efficiency, and energy saving. The teams in Munich (Germany) cover research topics in the area of Analytics, Machine Learning, Data Management, Artificial Intelligence and Privacy.
The Global Operations organization is responsible for Nokia’s entire supply chain operation. It operates factories and warehouses and brings in the requirements of industry 4.0 and all the aspects of requirements of operating safely and securely factory networks amended by 5G capabilities.
Thales is one of the world’s leading providers of mission-critical systems for security, defense and aerospace. With over 71000 employees in 50 countries, Thales annual revenue is over €12 billion with over 18% devoted to R&D and 25000 researchers working on cutting-edge technologies. Leveraging a global presence and spanning the entire value chain, from prime contracting to equipment, Thales plays a pivotal role in making the world a safer place.
THALES SIX GTS FRANCE SAS (TSG) revenues exceed 1 billion Euro with 6.900 employees. TSG addresses every activity related to telecommunications: wireless communications, IP networks, satellite communication, net-work administration and security. TSG has a long experience in very large Information systems and secure infra-structures for systems and networks, including Internet and Intranets. TSG also develops a full range of telecommunication and cloud platforms and components, a range of high performance security products and has a deep skill in secure telecommunications and information systems for public and governmental organisations, or emergency services. Advance studies of TSG is made of a set of applied research laboratories working conjointly and involved in cutting-edge projects. ThereSIS laboratory representing advance studies in the FogProtect project covers four areas of expertise namely: AI & autonomy, data science, connectivity and Cybersecurity. ThereSIS is also in charge of transferring technological results (e.g. building blocks) to Thales Business lines.
TU Wien is Austria’s largest scientific-technical research and educational institution. Its faculty of informatics is the gravitational centre of computer science in Austria. Within the Distributed Systems Group (DSG) at TU Wien (dsg.tuwien.ac.at), some 20 researchers conduct teaching and research in distributed computing with particular emphasis on elastic cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), Fog/Edge Computing, and the Internet of Services (IoS). With respect to this project, DSG has shown its competence as one of the leading research groups with regard to IoT and Fog Computing, including networking and communication aspects, as well as service orchestration, service-oriented interoperability, resource allocation and task scheduling.
The University of Duisburg-Essen – UDE is one of the youngest universities in Germany and thinks in terms of possibilities, not limitations. UDE ranks 13th in the Times Higher Education Ranking of the world’s 150 best universities that were founded in the past 50 years. UDE is member of the University Alliance Ruhr (http://www.uaruhr.de/profil_en.php), which pools more than 120,000 students, close to 1,200 professors and over 300 MEUR annual 3rd party funding. Paluno, the Ruhr Institute for Software Technology of UDE (https://paluno.uni-due.de/en/), was founded in 2010. Within paluno 10 professors and their teams join forces. With more than 100 academic staff members, paluno conducts application-oriented research on important areas of software engineering, including autonomic and self-adaptive systems, software architectures, security-privacy-trust, cloud computing, and big data systems. Research activities are performed in close cooperation with well-known partners from industry and research.
The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) is the public broadcaster of the Flemish Community in Belgium. Its mission is to reach the largest possible number of viewers and listeners with a diversity of programs that arouse and fulfil their interest. To accomplish this, VRT owns 3 TV channels (Eén, Ketnet, Canvas), 5 radio stations (Radio1, Radio2, Klara, Studio Brussel and MNM), 3 web portals (deredactie.be, canvas.be and sporza.be) and an on-line catch-up service (vrt.nu).
The innovation department of VRT follows technological and societal evolutions to help build the future of media. This includes more immersive viewing experiences, personalised radio, and innovative news and programme formats engaging communities everywhere and at all times, customized to the right platform and user context. In collaboration with European research institutes, technology companies and media organizations, the team carries out research projects of two to three years long on the creation, management, distribution and consumption of media content. The interdisciplinary team consists of more than 20 highly qualified researchers with an expertise in many facets of media production and media management. This team is often complemented with VRT professionals from the creative domain to establish a link between the research project and the production floor. VRT innovation shares its expertise, insights and products with the wider media landscape via its communication channels and events.
The University of Amsterdam (UvA, Technical Coordinator) is a leading research-intensive university, where high-quality research takes place across the full breadth of the university and where teaching and research are inextricably linked. The UvA carries out high-quality research, and in order to maintain that high level of quality and retain its leading international position, the UvA has developed a strategic framework with a number of new areas of focus. Sharper positioning of the UvA research lies at the heart of that framework. This means more focused choices based on the uniqueness and competitive advantage of research in institutes and groups. It also means more effective alignment with social and economic issues outside the UvA. Furthermore, the UvA will continue to invest in state-of-the-art research facilities that will improve the quality of research. The UvA considers scientific integrity and open science to be essential prerequisites for the quality of research.
