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DIH Profile

Sirris Hub / Data and software Innovation

Hub Information

Hub Name
Sirris Hub / Data and software Innovation
Local Name
Sirris Hub / Data and software Innovation
Evolutionary Stage
Fully operational
Geographical Scope
National

Description

The DIH addresses the need of the local industry for practical and advanced knowledge about software engineering and digital technologies. The DIH started its activities in 2004. During the years the DIH has constantly renewed its services according to the needs of the local industry. This has led to a unique offering in Belgium. Examples of focus areas of the DIH are: (2008)focus on software variability, flexibility and quality. (2012) additional focus on: smart products. (2013) additional focus on: Software as a Service and cloud technology and go-to market of software products. (2014) additional focus on: data innovation and wearable intelligence (2016) additional focus on: scaling of companies with a digital business model The DIH offers its services to the industry in several ways: innovation projects (both regional and European level), individual consultancy, bootcamps, demonstrators, feasibility studies, masterclasses, events …..

Het initiatief beantwoordt aan de behoeftes van de lokale industrie om meer toegang te krijgen tot praktische en geavanceerde kennis over software engineering en digitale technologieën. Het initiatief begon met de activiteiten in 2004. De voorbije jaren werden de diensten constant aangepast aan de noden van de lokale industrie. Dit heeft geleid tot een uniek aanbod in België. Voorbeelden van focus gebieden zijn: (2008) focus op: software variabiliteit, flexibiliteit en kwaliteit. (2012) extra focus op: slimme producten. (2013) extra focus op: Software as a Service en cloud technologie en go-to market van software producten. (2014), extra focus op: data innovatie en wearable intelligence. (2016), extra focus op: schaling van bedrijven met een digitaal business model. Het initiatief biedt deze diensten aan voor de industrie aan op verschillende manieren: innovatieprojecten (zowel regionaal als europees), individuele consultancy, bootcamps, demonstratoren, haalbaarheidstudies, master classes, evenementen, …

Contact Data

Coordinator (Research & Technology organization)
Sirris, The collective Centre for and by the technological industry in Belgium
http://www.sirris.be
Year Established
2004
Location
BluePoint Brussels Reyerslaan 80, 1030, Brussel (Belgium)
Website
http://www.sirris.be
Social Media
Contact information
Wim Codenie
wim.codenie@sirris.be
+32 498 91 94 53

Organisation

Organizational form
(Part of) Private organization
Turnover
1.000.000-5.000.000
Number of employees
10-25

Technologies

  • Sensory systems
  • Cyber physical systems
  • Robotics
  • Internet of things
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Mobility & Location based technologies
  • Cyber security
  • Big data, data analytics, data handling
  • Simulation, modelling and digital twins
  • Software as a service and service architectures
  • Cloud computing
  • Logistics

In Brussels, the hub is supported by Innovirris (www.innoviris.be/en)

In Flanders it is part of

he DIH brings a lot of added value to the digitization of the industry. Some examples of the added value it offers to different industrial segments are described below Towards software companies the DIH offers unique services to help them create their products with state of the art technologies (APIs, cloud technology, security, ….). The DIH also offers a unique service to scale and go to market with digital products and services. Towards companies that produce “tangible” products the DIY offers services to make their products smarter with digital technologies (sensors, connectivity, embedded systems, internet of things…). Data is becoming a new ingredient for innovation in products, services and processes. For many companies this creates new opportunities: i.e. data driven business models. For many companies pursuing these opportunities requires the acquisition of a new set of skills, competences and technologie (entity profiling and recommendation, Predictive analytics and forecasting, data visualization, feature engineering, …) To support the local industry, the DIH has created in 2014 a dedicated program to support the Belgian industry with their data innovations and big data challenges. Since the start in 2004, In the above areas, more than 1.000 in depth advices were given; more than 100 innovation projects were initiated at local companies and thousands of people were reached throughout the events. The insights and publications of the DIH were consulted more than 1.000.000 times.

The hub's coordinating organisation has also actively participated in the Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs (I4MS) initiative of the European Commission through the H2020 funded project AMABLE. 

Market and Services

Sectors

TRL Focus

  • TRL5 - Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment
  • TRL6 - System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment
  • TRL7 - System prototype demonstration in an operational environment
  • TRL8 - Actual system completed and qualified through test and demonstration
  • TRL9 - Actual system proven through successful mission operations

Services provided

  • Awareness creation
  • Ecosystem building, scouting, brokerage, networking
  • Collaborative Research
  • Concept validation and prototyping
  • Incubator/accelerator support
  • Education and skills development

Service Examples

Usage Data Analytics

Client Profile: Builders of digital products that want to (better) exploit the data they gather from products in the field.

Client needs: Better understanding on the business opportunities that can be enabled by the data sets they have about products in the field and the state of art of the technology in this area.

Provided Solution: A proof of concept illustrating how activity monitoring and recommendation technology can be used in the company’s context.

Building smart wearable products requires a multi-disciplinary approach combining expertise and know-how from the textiles, confection, electronics and ICT domains. In the context of the ITEA CareWare project, Sirris, one of its initiators, supports Televic and SoftKinetic in different aspects related to turning  some of their products into smart wearable products. Sirris and the other Belgian partners (including Centexbel, Alsico and NXP) contribute to a demonstrator aiming at supporting people in healthcare and homecare environments in improving their quality of life and maintaining a high motivation level. The Data Innovation group of the DIH coordinates the activities of the Belgian partners in this demonstrator and develops technology for recognizing people's performed activities, estimating people's progress against recovery goals and delivering pro-active feedback and recommendations to the involved stakeholders. Through their participation in this project and the collaborations with Sirris and the partners from the textiles and confection domains, both Televic and SoftKinetic gain new expertise and know-how, which is then incorporated in their new wearable product offerings.

Digital Servitisation

Client Profile: Builders of tangible (physical) products that want to connect a digital service to their product.

Client needs: Knowledge about designing a digital service.

Provided Solution: An inspirational workshop to explain the different areas of  designing a digital service

The world of building goods is being transformed into a world of building digital services tied to goods. More products in the field are digitally connected through the Internet to the manufacturers who created them. Smart, connected products essentially represent a new value delivery platform in which the manufacturer always knows about the use of the product. This leads to a revolution in servitisation: Digital Servitisation, To realize this, companies need to learn new skills and capabilities: E.g. integration of connectivity in the product, data analytics, software service design, API use, new business models. In the context of a FEDER/EFRO project (ICITY-RDI.BRU), a hands on digital servitisation workshop was created that uses a broad range of digital reference technology to interactively figure out with a company what the opportunities are in their specific case.

SaaS development

Client Profile: Builders of Software as a Service solutions.

Client needs: Information about the newest evolutions in SaaS development.

Provided Solution: Advices and workshops in several areas of software engineering (APIs, security, product management, …)

The transition from on-site software to SaaS is presenting many software developers with new challenges. In this brave new world, factors which were previously of less importance such as cost of acquisition and customer lifetime value now rank among the top KPIs. The DIH has a long tradition in helping companies become successful in a SaaS model. It offers several services  to the industry in this area including:
• Helping companies to use and position themselves in the API economy
• Setting up scalable cloud architectures
• Design by security
• …
SaaS companies want to know how they can combine working on a large scale with a large customer base while at the same time offering personalized services. Data-driven product management and analysis become a core competence that many web born companies must master. The DIH brought 3 Belgian companies (Inventive Designers, Data Stories and Survey Anyplace) that are facing this problem together in a project with partners from Germany (Flex4Apps).  

Funding

  • Horizon 2020
  • Regional funding
  • Memberships
  • Other

Partners

Last updated: 02/09/18 09:10