Network

The Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics is a research and development provider for smart systems. It conducts cutting-edge research in micro- and nanoelectronics, microsystems technology, and communication engineering. The group brings together decades of experience and the expertise of approximately 3,000 employees from eleven current Fraunhofer Institutes, along with five guest institutes from other Fraunhofer Groups.

Understanding the complex interdependencies within systems of innovation is critical for business, government, science, and society to succeed. For this reason, it is important to recognize change as soon as it emerges in any sector, market or technology. Only by comprehending such change, can we actively influence its long-term economical, technological, societal, governmental, and cultural impact. As an expert partner that uniquely combines socioeconomic and sociotechnical research, the Fraunhofer Group for Innovation Research provides stakeholders with orientation, facilitates them in positioning themselves, and assists in shaping the future in the innovation system.

The Fraunhofer ICT Group is the largest provider of applied research in the field of information and communications technologies in Europe.

The Fraunhofer ICT Group covers a broad spectrum of technological fields through its member institutes, from the basics to practical solutions in informatics, mathematics, as well as information and communications technology, and it offers assistance to national and international IT providers and IT users alike, particularly SMEs.

Material research within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft covers the entire value chain, from the development of new materials and the enhancement of existing ones, to industrial-scale manufacturing technology, characterization of material properties and evaluation of material behavior when employed in components and systems.

The group concentrates its expertise primarily on fields of activity that are important to the national economy: energy, health, mobility, information and communication technology, construction and housing. It promotes the use of novel, customized materials and components as a means of implementing innovative systems.

The Fraunhofer Digital Media Business Area brings together four Fraunhofer institutes working on the development of key components and technologies for digital cinema and for multi-format and multi-platform content creation and distribution.

The institutes offer research and development in a variety of areas. The developments and innovations cover the entire workflow for digital cinema and HD technology: From cameras and storage, audio systems to data compression, post-production, projection, distribution, and archiving.

In the Fraunhofer Business Area Vision several Fraunhofer institutes work together in the fields of image processing and optical testing and measurement techniques. The central office of the Fraunhofer Business Area Vision has been installed at the Fraunhofer IIS in Fürth. It conveys and coordinates projects as well as marketing and PR measures.

Artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive systems and machine learning have a key role to play in the transformation of our society and economy. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is developing key AI technologies and applications at a number of its institutes. Our research contributes significantly to the development of safe, trusted and resource-efficient AI technologies that closely match the real-world needs of companies and society as a whole.

Computers have become ubiquitous in every aspect of our daily lives – and this digital transformation is creating a torrent of new business models and innovations. As the number of application scenarios increases, so too do the demands we place on software and hardware. Yet conventional computing technologies are gradually reaching the limits of speed, performance, miniaturization and energy efficiency. Next-generation computing aims to solve this dilemma. 

Quantum technologies open up entirely new and unexplored applications in the fields of measurement technology, imaging, secure communication and highly complex calculations. They therefore have high disruptive potential. Scientists have achieved spectacular breakthroughs in quantum research in recent years. The goal of quantum research at Fraunhofer is to transfer basic research into applications as quickly as possible, for example in the form of high-precision sensor systems and secure quantum communication.

In the Adaptronics Alliance the competences of six Fraunhofer institutes, which lie in the areas of development, application and optimization of intelligent material systems and components, systems and applications are combined.

Through this cooperation the institutes want to make a substantial contribution towards efficiently solving complex tasks in the field of adaptronics and towards offering the user a common, central contact person for his system development. As a result of the participation of the institutes in other groups of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft an active exchange of information is guaranteed.

The Fraunhofer Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Alliance consists of 30 institutes bundling their cross-sector competencies. Their expertise ranges from market-oriented big data solutions for individual problems to the professional education of data scientists and big data specialists.

The AAL Alliance works on system solutions for ambient assisted living and personal health. AAL stands for intelligent environments which adapt autonomously, proactively, and context sensitively to the needs and aims of users in order to support them in their daily lives. Intelligent environments are designed to allow especially older, disabled, and care-dependent persons to live self-determined lives in a private setting.

The Alliance takes a holistic approach that integrates various technologies, applications, and user groups.

In der Fraunhofer-Allianz Cloud Computing werden die Kompetenzen von derzeit sechs Fraunhofer-Instituten gebündelt. Zu den Themenbereichen zählen:Betriebs- und Geschäftsmodelle,Prozessmanagement, Ressourcenplanung, Anwendungsentwicklung und Life Cycle Management für Cloud Services und Umgebungen.

Mit ihrer Zusammenarbeit leisten die Institute einen wesentlichen Beitrag, um die komplexen Aufgaben in der Cloud effizienter zu bearbeiten und dem Anwender einen gemeinsamen, zentralen Ansprechpartner für seine Systementwicklung anzubieten.

The Fraunhofer Space Alliance is a group of 13 institutes that carries out collaborative research in the field of aeronautics technologies. By pooling different skills, this alliance offers customers a unique spectrum of R&D services ranging from the development of individual components and prototype validation, to the implementation of entire systems.

Fraunhofer IIS has been part of the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD) since 2017. As a cooperation of the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics and the Leibniz Institutes FBH and IHP, the FMD is the central contact for all questions concerning micro- and nanoelectronics in Germany and Europe. As a pioneer for cross-location and cross-technology cooperation, the FMD is actively addressing the current and future challenges of electronics research, providing key impulses for the development of elementary innovations for the world of tomorrow.

In close collaboration with Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen, the DMT team, based in San José, California, introduces new audio formats into the American market.