Fraunhofer IAO

Our research fields comprehensively cover the triad of people, technology, and organization:

• Working environments of tomorrow: How is our working world changing? We analyze forward-looking working environments, new leadership approaches, and transformative corporate cultures.

• Digital transformation: Digital change is accelerating dramatically – with far-reaching consequences for all industries. We conduct research on the latest digitalization trends, disruptive business models, and critical future skills from a corporate perspective.

• Artificial intelligence (AI): AI is rapidly evolving from hype to business standard. We examine user experience, data strategies, industrial AI applications, and their opportunities, risks, and regulatory challenges.

• Mobility and logistics: Our research ranges from networked mobility concepts and automated driving to issues of supply and infrastructure.

• Sustainability and resilience: Climate strategies are becoming a survival factor for companies. We research approaches in the circular economy and innovative energy systems that are redefining Germany as an industrial site.

• Production and value creation: Industry 4.0 is followed by the next leap forward – we address technologies that are fundamentally changing the manufacturing landscape, such as networked production, advanced systems engineering, and digital engineering.

• Urban systems: Intelligent neighborhood development, reinventing tourism and gastronomy after the pandemic, and data-driven urban solutions. We illustrate how cities need to respond to the climate crisis, demographic change, and digitalization.

• Virtual worlds: Extended realities, digital twins, and virtual avatars – we separate hype from substance and show which companies are already creating real value in virtual worlds today.

• Future technologies: Quantum computing, neuro-engineering, and cybersecurity – the underestimated tech revolutions beyond the headlines. Our researchers provide deep insights into technologies that will shape the future.