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20/10/2021

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Golden bridge between research and practice

Digital Factory Vorarlberg becomes a Gold Partner. COPA-DATA and the research center located at the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences intensify cooperation.

Innovation needs cooperation. According to this guiding principle, COPA-DATA has been cooperating with partners from industry and research for many years within the framework of the COPA-DATA Partner Community. The collaboration with the Digital Factory Vorarlberg - , where practical automation scenarios for manufacturing companies are tested and further developed in a model factory -  is particularly intensive and close. Especially in times when new forms of efficient, resource-conserving and sustainable economic activity need to be advanced, it is important to bundle potential and develop new approaches in production. Now, the cooperation with the Digital Factory, a joint venture of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, has been awarded the Gold level of the COPA-DATA Partner Community (CDPC).

 

Goldpartners: Reinhard Mayr and Gerald Lochner (COPA-DATA), Prof. Robert Merz, Damian Drexel, Ralph Hoch and Michael Kappaurer (Digital Factory Vorarlberg), Sebastian Schoendorfer (COPA-DATA)


From Cloud Manufacturing to AI

The focus of the Digital Factory Vorarlberg is on cloud manufacturing, data analytics and cyber security. zenon is a substantial part of the model factory. The research project will develop a cloud platform that connects customers with producers and optimizes the processing of production orders. "We are working on Intelligence and Data Analytics - starting with basic projects up to AI applications and an automated visual inspection", says Prof. Robert Merz, Head of Digital Factory Vorarlberg "In the area of Cybersecurity we are currently building a Cyberrange, as a place to train Cybersecurity. This allows us to build corporate networks in a virtual environment. We confront companies with possible attacks that hopefully will never become reality and show how to best respond to them."

 

For Prof. Merz, the long-standing cooperation with COPA-DATA represents a key asset for the research center: "zenon acts as the central data interface in our model factory. Together, we develop and work on topics such as the creation of simulation models using artificial intelligence (AI) from process data or cloud-based systems for controlling globally distributed production facilities. These projects are a key driver for our research work and product development at COPA-DATA." COPA-DATA supports the Digital Factory in being innovative. Together, they initiate creative projects for the future of industrial production.

 

Reinhard Mayr, Head of Information Security & Research Operations at COPA-DATA coordinates research-related activities and cooperation with universities and independent scientific partners. He is pleased that the close cooperation with the Digital Factory can now be further intensified through the Gold Partner status: "The previous activities have shown how partnership in research can be lived."

 

Further information about the COPA-DATA Partner Community can be found on the CDPC area of our website and in the Membership-Guide for educational institutions and about Digital Factory Vorarlberg.

 

Watch the video with Prof. Robert Merz at the COPA-DATA Innovation Days 2021.

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