Partners

Why this Consortium?

The ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence will be significantly strengthened, through scientific excellence and innovation capacity building on AI for EO, through several knowledge transfer (Scientific/Innovation (S/I) and research management) activities that will be provided by the two advanced partners, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI-Germany) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata (UNITOV-Italy). 

These internationally top-class leading research institutions on Artificial Intelligence will fulfil the current needs of ECoE to upgrade and modernize the existing department of Resilient Society on the thematic area of Disaster Risk Reduction through the adoption of AI. DFKI and UNITOV will provide their expertise in building AI models for large scale image processing and Big EO data. 

To accomplish ECoE’s outreach and exploitation objectives on AI for EO and assist its needs in connecting to Cyprus industry and beyond, CELLOCK LTD (CLK-Cyprus), a leading Information Technology R&D SME, will act as the industrial partner and will be in charge of commercialization, exploitation, and product development of AI-OBSERVER.

The experience from 2007, with the establishment of the Remote Sensing and Geo-environment Lab, provided the opportunity to develop the EO capabilities within the Cyprus University of Technology. In 2020, the Lab was upgraded to the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, an autonomous center for Earth surveillance and space-based monitoring of the environment. The AI-OBSERVER will enrich the existing capabilities of the ECoE with AI, giving the ability to the Centre to raise excellence in the field of AI for EO on environmental hazards.

A new, autonomous, and self-sustained Centre of Excellence, namely ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) has been established through the ‘EXCELSIOR’, H2020 Widespread Teaming Phase 2 project.The newly established centre has been created as a result of upgrading the existing Remote Sensing and Geo-Environment Lab, which has been operating within the Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics of the Cyprus University of Technology since 2007.

The vision of the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence is to become a world-class Digital Innovation Hub for Earth Observation, space technology and Geospatial Information and to be the reference Centre in the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa.

The Digital Innovation Hub will create an ecosystem which combines state-of-the-art remote sensing, data management and processing technologies, cutting – edge research opportunities, targeted education services and promotion of entrepreneurship.  In order to be dynamic and innovative, the Digital Innovation Hub will be based on two major infrastructures, which are a Satellite Ground Receiving Station and a Ground-based atmospheric remote sensing station. ERATOSTHENES Centre of excellence is paving the way for Cyprus to enter the space arena.

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence GmbH (DFKI) was founded in 1988 as a non-profit public-private partnership (PPP). It maintains locations in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen, Lower Saxony, laboratories in Berlin and Darmstadt and branch offices in Lübeck and Trier. In the field of innovative software technologies based on methods of artificial intelligence, the DFKI is the leading business-oriented research institution in Germany.In 27 research areas , nine  competence centers and eight living labsBased on application-oriented basic research, product functions, prototypes and patentable solutions are developed in the field of information and communication technology. 

Funding is provided by grants from public sponsors such as the European Union, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), the federal states and the German Research Foundation (DFG) as well as development contracts from industry. The progress of publicly funded projects is reviewed twice a year by an international panel of experts (scientific advisory board).

In addition to the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Bremen are on the DFKI supervisory boardnumerous well-known German and international high-tech companies from a wide range of industries are represented. The successful DFKI model of a non-profit public-private partnership is regarded nationally and internationally as a forward-looking structure in the field of cutting-edge research.

The DFKI is involved in numerous committees for Germany as a location for science and technology and enjoys a high reputation far beyond Germany in the training of young scientists. Around 890 highly qualified employees from science and administration and around 610 student assistants from over 65 nations are currently working on over 390 research projects. The DFKI serves as a career springboard for young scientists in management positions in industry or for self-employment through spin-off companies. Over the years, more than 160 employees have been appointed professors at universities and colleges in Germany and abroad.

University of Rome Tor Vergata was established in 1982 and is therefore a relatively young University. It was designed on the model of Anglo-Saxon campuses: it stretches on 600 hectares and hosts important research institutions, such as National Research Council – CNR and the Italian Space Agency – ASI.The mission of the University of Rome Tor Vergata is to contribute to people’s education and training, to scientific research and to the technological, organisational and social innovation needed to achieve a truly sustainable development in Italy, Europe and worldwide pursuant to the Sustainable Development Goals approved by the United Nations in September 2015. 

As the implementation of the actions needed to accomplish such ambitious purpose requires high skills and management of complex processes, not only is the University of Rome Tor Vergata deeply committed to excellent education and scientific research, but it also closely cooperates with the private sector, public institutions and non-profit organisations at national and international level. This aims at favouring the adoption of policies and behaviours focusing on sustainability both in terms of well-being for people and ecosystem conditions.

Cellock is a leading Information Technology Corporation, founded in 2003, which operates in the fields of custom Software and Hardware Development, and it specializes in the areas of Data Analytics & Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, and Business Intelligence.Cellock is an international company with presence in the USA, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, and Germany. Backed by a scientific background, our creativity and innovation are the driving forces in our belief that we can create groundbreaking, powerful systems and experiences, and invest in Research and Development for our own line of products and our clients’ ones.

Cellock delivers solutions for a wide variety of industries, such as Fintech, Health, Agritech, Maritime, Government, Marketing and Retail. With several years of combined experience in software and hardware development, and a highly skilled technical workforce, we pride ourselves as a premier IT company serving clients in a wide array of business verticals. We deliver scalable, high-quality custom solutions, for any industry, and together with our unparalleled 24/7 support, we aim to be your trusted IT solutions partner.

 

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