Answare

Answare is an ICT-based and ISO 9001:2008 and CMMI level 3 DEV and SVC certified SME founded in 2002 and based in Alcorcón (Madrid). The company portfolio includes the provision of consultancy services, the delivery of turn-key solutions and the development of R&D projects with specialization on the following technological paradigms: Monitoring&Control, Decision Support, Optimization, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Augmented Reality, mobile applications and services (Android, IOS, tablets and smart glasses). Answare operates in international markets (Europe, LatAm, Middle East and North Africa) and for a large spectrum of industrial and service sectors: AeroSpace (earth observation, satellite communications, satellite navigation), Defence and Security, Telecommunications, Energy and eHealth. Answare is co-founder and member of the Board of the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) and member of the Steering Committee of PLANETIC (the Spanish ICT-based ICT Technology Platform).

ATC

ATC is an Information Technology Company founded in 1987, and based in Athens, Greece, offering solutions and services to the Media, Banking, Retail and Public sectors as well as horizontal solutions focusing on Content Management, Web Applications, eLearning, Human Capital Resource Management and Mobile Applications. ATC is an SME with activities spanning among several countries in the EU, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. 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. Central to the Company¡¯s strategy is the conduction of vivid Research and Development, focusing both in improving current Products and Solutions, as well as in exploring new technologies for future growth.

CINI

CINI is a consortium of 30 Italian universities (Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Calabria, Cassino, Catania, Ferrara, Firenze, Genova, Lecce, Milano, Milano-Bicocca, Napoli 'Federico II', Napoli Seconda Università, Università Parthenope, Palermo, Parma, Pavia, Piemonte Orientale, Pisa, Roma 'La Sapienza', Roma Tor Vergata, Salerno, Torino, Trento, Udine, Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa) established in 1998 and recognized by the Ministry of the University. It is a non-profit organization aiming at promoting research activities in computer science at national and international level. Therefore, CINI integrates the resources of the Italian universities working in the computer science area to promote and coordinate basic and applied research, knowledge transfer and promotion among the universities and between universities and other parties (at national and international level) including research centers and companies. CINI is spread across the entire Italian territory through local units that carry out the different research activities.

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica Group

Engineering is the leading Italian software and services group, with 8.100 employees and branch offices in Italy, Europe, USA, South America. In 2015 annual revenues amount to €877,5 Millions. The Group carries out IT innovation, combining the potential of a full integrated offer of Business Integration, Infrastructural Outsourcing and Cloud services, Consulting, customized proprietary solutions for vertical markets. Engineering offers technological expertise to more than 1.000 large accounts in all market segments: banks, insurance, industry, telecommunications, healthcare, central and local public administration, defense & space, energy & utilities.

IBM

IBM is the world's largest IT research organization, IBM produces more breakthroughs than any company in the industry. Despite our size, we maintain an environment that nurtures some of the most innovative thinkers in the world. In NESSI, IBM is represented by IBM R&D Labs in Israel and its research arm: IBM Research - Haifa.

Over 1000 individuals work at the IBM R&D Labs in Israel; 25 percent of the research 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 supervising post-graduate theses. Many employees have received IBM awards for achievements and excellence.

IBM Research - Haifa is the largest lab of IBM Research Division outside of the United States. Founded as a small scientific center in 1972, it grew into a major lab that leads the development of innovative technological products and solutions for the IBM corporation. The Lab works with IBM development and services arms, partners with clients to answer their needs, and collaborates with universities to promote industrial research. Reinventing and refocusing itself during the years to stay at the forefront of the technology, most projects today fall under cloud, storage, and Big Data, alongside social analytics, mobile, security and quality. The lab also focuses on two industry domains: healthcare and retail.

ICE

Information Catalyst delivers software, services, and data solutions in the field of information interoperability and integration. It projects this knowledge into other areas such as resource provision (from listed company CTOs to developers) as well as research and innovation proposal development, consultancy, management, and training (eg in the EUs €80 Billion H2020 program). ICE contributes to voluntary groups such as NESSI and the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) of which ICE’s CEO was the inaugural Secretary General. ICE has more than two decades of experience in conceptualising, developing, and implementing solutions and consultancy and ICE personnel have been key contributors to the development and implementation of global eBusiness and ICT standards, Factory of the Future, and Big Data community initiatives. ICE is an SME based in the UK with an office in Spain.

INDRA SISTEMAS S.A.

INDRA is the leading Spanish Information Technologies company, with revenues of 3.000 M€. Indra is now the reference Spanish company in Information Technologies, and comprises over 42,000 professionals in 128 countries. Indra is organised around six business areas:

• Public Administration and Healthcare
• Finance and Insurance
• Energy and industry
• Defence and Security
• Telecom and Media
• Transport and Traffic

Innovation is the basis of INDRA’s strategy, which has been reflected in the quality of solutions and services developed by the professionals who form part of Indra and the internal progress of its organisation. Investment in R&D&i forms an essential part of corporate innovation processes. This investment effort was reflected by INDRA’s position of third place in Spain in every sector within the European ranking of the 1,000 highest investors in R&D.

A large part of INDRA’s innovation activities relate to specific projects clearly designed to meet emerging technological demands from final users. The company therefore participates in many institutional initiatives to support R&D&i, both in Spain and abroad (the EU’s Framework Programme for R&D&i). The significance of innovation for INDRA’s business in a global market generates the need for collaboration with many corporations and institutions. Moreover, INDRA has alliances with the most important Big Data, Analytics and Cloud technological suppliers like Google, Oracle, SAP, HP, IBM, Microsoft, etc.

Related to Big Data, Indra has developed and improved both third-parties solutions and their own platforms, not only cross solutions and platforms but also vertical application(e.g. Energy management systems, Smart Cities, telecom networks management, ...)

Instituto Tecnologico de Informatica-ITI

Instituto Tecnológico de Informática (ITI) is a Spanish private Research & Technology organization located in Valencia, Spain. ITI is a Competence Centre in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), established in 1994. ITI is also the coordinator of the Data Cycle Hub, which is the reference one-stop shop DIH in the Valencia region to foster data driven and artificial intelligence-based innovation. The objective is to bridge the gap between research and industry, specifically SMEs, providing innovative solutions and services that require advanced data analytics, automatic learning and artificial intelligence.

ITI Research and Innovation activity is developed by a team of more than 200 technologists (researchers and technicians), and is focused on 6 main digital enablers around the DATA CYCLE, primarily Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, but also other key digital enabling technologies like Cyber Physical Systems, IoT, Cloud and High Performance Computing Platforms or Statistics Optimization.

With a combination of all these enablers, ITI is providing solutions to different domains: a) IT industry, b) Manufacturing (Industry 4.0), c) Society (Health 4.0, Tourism, Cities, Buildings), d) Transport and e) Agriculture 4.0.

All this activity confers ITI the possibility to give the following offer: Access to infrastructure and technology platforms, Access to specialist expertise on digitisation & applications, Collaborative research for Industry needs, Demonstrate best practices, Training and Education, Showcase technologies in pilot factories, fab-labs, Support experimentation in real-life environments.

Specially in Data Technologies, ITI has a long history. Founding member of BDVA in 2014, active member in lighthouse projects like Transforming Transport and Bigmedilytics, key player in BDVe or coordinator of Industrial Data Platforms like DataPorts, and two EUHubs4Data, which will give ITI & ITI Data Space the privilege of founding the federation of Big Data Innovation Hubs in Europe.

ITI provides a Data Space, which is a common infrastructure that facilitates a safe and reliable environment for the development of projects that require Big Data, IA and HPC. Access to open and private data sources that allow realistic simulations is also facilitated and the dissemination of knowledge and good practices that promote the use of enabling technologies is encouraged.

In the user side, ITI has established strong connections to the main association of companies in Valencia Region, and is closely linked to the Regional Development Agency - IVACE (Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness), and has been working with it in the creation of the Valencia Region RIS3 strategy since the beginning.

Regarding the ITI’s network outreach, ITI is member of several National and European structures and associations like the following: Big Data Value Association (founding member), NESSI, INTEROP-VLab, PLANETIC, ARTEMIS and the International Data Space Association (IDSA). ITI is leading the interplatforms group for Big Data and AI, where more than 15 spanish technology platforms (Manufacturing, water, energy, food, health, …) are collaborating to define strategic agendas for Spain and the sectors in Big Data and AI.

URL: https://www.iti.es/

IT Innovation Centre

The IT Innovation Centre is an international leader in applied research, focused on enabling take-up of novel IT, particularly by industry and commerce. We research, develop, architect, engineer and integrate innovative IT systems, delivering proofs-of-concept, demonstrators and novel operational systems. In our wide-ranging project portfolio we are advancing the deployment of secure service-oriented systems and enabling the Future Internet. We work in a spirit of partnership, ensuring effective transfer of knowledge. Located on the Southampton Science Park in the UK, the IT Innovation Centre is part of the Department of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton.

Nokia Networks

Nokia is a global leader in the technologies that connect people and things. Powered by the pioneering work of Bell Labs, our research and innovation division, and Nokia Technologies, we are at the forefront of creating and licensing the technologies that are increasingly at the heart of our connected lives.

We combine global leadership in mobile and fixed network infrastructure, with the software, services, and advanced technologies to transform how smart devices and sensors tap the power of connectivity. With state-of-the-art software, hardware and services for any type of network, Nokia is uniquely positioned to help communication service providers, governments, and large enterprises deliver on the promise of 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things.

Orange

Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 40 billion euros in 2015 and 155,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2016. Present in 28 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 252 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2016, including 191 million mobile customers and 18 million fixed broadband customers. In Europe, several network operators are part of Orange, in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange involvement covers a wide range of topics, including: fixed and wireless broadband development and investment; R&D and innovation; broadband contents and services; e-applications (e-health, smart cities,etc) for daily life and business; ICT for sustainable development; corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues, diversity. Through its Orange Labs, Orange is an active member of the NEM, NESSI and Networld 2020 European Technology Platforms and participate to several collaborative R&I projects and PPPs.

Paluno

paluno (The Ruhr Institute for Software Technology), University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

paluno, the Ruhr Institute for Software Engineering, was founded in 2010. In paluno ten professors and their teams join forces. With more than 100 academic staff members, paluno conducts application-oriented research on important areas of software engineering, such as requirements engineering, cloud services, software architectures, security-privacy-trust, and big data systems. paluno is part of the University of Duisburg-Essen, one of the youngest universities in Germany which thinks in terms of possibilities, not limitations. The University of Duisburg-Essen is member of the University Alliance Ruhr, which pools around 110,000 students, close to 1,200 professors and over 300 MEUR annual 3rd party funding.

The research activities of paluno are performed in close cooperation with well-known partners from industry and research. paluno develops scientific, yet pragmatic approaches to engineer such complex software systems - for the infrastructures of the future as well as the application landscapes of today. paluno's research and transfer paradigm encourages mutual benefit from basic research, applied research and bilateral industry cooperations. paluno's research teams join competencies covering all phases and layers of software engineering, and bring in experience from application domains as diverse as insurance, automotive, health, energy, mobility, and logistics.

SINTEF

SINTEF is one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations with more than 2000 employees. SINTEF is a broad, multidisciplinary research organisation with international top-level expertise in the fields of technology, the natural sciences, medicine and the social sciences. We conduct contract R&D as a partner for the private and public sectors. Every year we carry out several thousand projects for customers large and small. For more than 70 years, SINTEF has developed solutions and innovation for society and customers all over the world. This is how we have become a world-leading research institute. We deliver innovation by developing knowledge and technologies that are brought into practical use, and create value for our partners and customers.

Our vision is Technology for a better society.

Software AG

Software AG empowers customers to innovate, differentiate and win in the digital world. Its products help companies combine existing systems on-premise and in the cloud into a single platform to optimize and digitize their businesses. The combination of process management, data integration and real-time analytics in one Digital Business Platform enables customers to drive operational efficiency, modernize their systems and optimize processes for smarter decision-making. Building on over 45 years of customer-centric innovation, Software AG is ranked a leader in many innovative IT categories. Software AG has more than 4,300 employees in 70 countries and had total revenues of € 873 million in 2015.

In its long-lasting research tradition Software AG has established a worldwide collaborative network with many organizations, among them numerous renowned universities and research institutes, private enterprises, federal governments, and customers and takes advantages of the close vicinity to them. Software AG plays a significant role in Europe's largest Software Cluster, Software Innovation for the Digital Enterprise, and is engaged in several projects funded by e.g. the European Commission or German Government in order to evaluate and research new and innovative ideas and technologies for its products and customers to face the future challenges and to understand which trends will have an impact on the marketplace.

UPM

UPM - 5,500 people of which 3,274 in R&D-is one of Europe's foremost Research Universities, with a very solid track record of collaborations in research and innovation projects with the European software industry. UPM has agreements with industries and other universities throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is the biggest contract research organisation in Northern Europe. VTT provides high-end technology solutions and innovation services. From its wide knowledge base, VTT can combine different technologies, create new innovations and a substantial range of world class technologies and applied research services thus improving its clients" competitiveness and competence. Through its international scientific and technology network, VTT can produce information, upgrade technology knowledge, create business intelligence and value added to its stakeholders.