Fraunhofer AICOS’ expertise included in new book about technology and sustainability in Portugal and Europe

28.1.2019

 

The book “Binómio Tecnologia & Sustentabilidade – 7 Lições em Portugal e na Europa” (Binomial Technology & Sustainability - 7 Lessons in Portugal and Europe), launched this month, presents an innovative approach to the dynamics between technology and sustainability, and its impact on the world today.

 

With a chapter dedicated to Fraunhofer AICOS and its presence in Portugal, guided by the centre’s Director Liliana Ferreira, the book highlights the Fraunhofer Model, and the 3 perspectives that AICOS brings to every challenge: People, Connected Things, and Intelligence.

 

From sustainable airplanes and space satellites to the use of drones and artificial intelligence, a  machine that aims to recreate the first instants of the universe and understand the Big Bang explosion or the production of energy on Earth through the same process of the Sun, the book covers a wide number of projects from the developments for the industry 4.0 to the digital revolution in agriculture.

In the book, Fraunhofer’s model is presented as a case-study on best practices for the industry sector, standing as an example and inspiration due to the holistic and intelligent approach applied to R&D, based on sustainable and multiple interfaces established between academia, companies and research centres, in order to develop applied research of practical utility.

The book highlights one of the main advantages the centre brings to its clients and partners: the 3 different perspectives to every challenge – People, Connected Things and Intelligence.

By focusing on People, and keeping it simple for humans, AICOS researchers add cognition capabilities to connected collaborative things, creating context-aware solutions that understand the content and respond appropriately to the environment. This process creates the conditions for comprehensive solutions to emerge, allows people to achieve more through the optimisation of resources and processes, placing AICOS in prime position to take new challenges and answer the current and future demands of our clients.

A key asset of AICOS, also described in the book is COLABORAR, a network with over 1,000 active participants, who regularly take part in our research and development activities.

The book, from authors Diogo Almeida Alves and Pedro Matias, and Foreword from Arlindo Oliveira, president of IST – Instituto Superior Técnico, counts also with other collaboration from several prestigious organizations. ISQ Group, the largest engineering consulting and certification group in the Iberian Peninsula; MUDA (Movimento pela Utilização Digital Ativa); Imperial College London from United Kingdom; Chalmers University of Technology from Sweden; ESA (European Space Agency); EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) and CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research).