Ceremonial opening of the Josef Ressel Centre: Marianne Kusejko (Sigmatek), governor Wilfried Haslauer, Jörg Theis (B&R Industrial Automation), Phillip Werr (COPA-DATA)Global company
COPA-DATA, an automation software developer, is one of three companies investing in the new
Josef Ressel Centre for Intelligent and Secure Industrial Automation (ISIA) at the
Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. Collaborating with
B&R Industrial Automation and
Sigmatek, COPA-DATA will lead on cyber security in the investment, which is set to strengthen the relationship between automation companies and universities.
The Josef Ressel Centre ISIA will provide a hub for investigating the future of digitalisation and industrial automation, focusing specifically on the potential of digital assistants for industrial machines. The centre will focus on three key research fields: system architectures, artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber security.
COPA-DATA will be predominately involved in research into cyber security — a specialism on which the company has focused since its inception 35 years ago. As the developer of zenon, the industrial automation software for energy and industry, the company has been supporting cyber security needs for several decades. The investment into the Josef Ressel Centre ISIA provides an opportunity for the business to contribute its knowledge with academia.
Cyber securityThomas Punzenberger, founder and CEO of COPA-DATA, said: “Cyber security is playing an increasingly central role in enabling industrial companies to adopt digitalisation. The creative exchange between scientists and partner companies at the new centre provides the potential for untapped innovation, and we are looking forward to contributing our know-how.”
Industrial control partner, Sigmatek will support with its knowledge of system architectures, while automation and process control expert, B&R Industrial Automation will support the research area for AI.
The new centre is part of the
Salzburg 2025 Science and Innovation Strategy, which aims to improve collaboration between universities of applied sciences and industrial companies. The Josef Ressel Centre ISIA is the third of its kind to be opened in Salzburg, following the success of the Josef Ressel Centre for User-Centric Smart Grid Privacy, Security and Control and the Josef Ressel Centre for Dependable System-of-Systems Engineering. Both previous centres have been transformed into long-standing institutes for their respective fields.
Stefan Huber, the newly appointed head of the centre, said: “We are in the extremely fortunate position of being able to find an extraordinary innovation region in the Salzburg and Upper Austria area — creating almost a Silicon Valley of industrial automation.”