CERTH-ΙΤΙ

The Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), founded in 2000, is a leading Research Centre in Greece and in the EU. It is a legal entity governed by private law with non-profit Climate change, sustainable energy, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, Internet of Things, holistic approaches to healthcare and nutrition, autonomous vehicles, smart cities of the future and circular economy are the primal fields around which CERTH’s five (5) institutes are organized. Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute - CPERI, Information Technologies Institute - ITI, Hellenic Institute of Transport - HIT, Institute of Applied Biosciences - INAB, and Bio-economy and Agro-Technology Institute - IBO, bring together more than 1100 people (engineers and scientists in their majority), in 6 regions and 7 cities. CERTH is essentially a self-supported Research Centre generating an average annual turnover of ~ € 40 Million (average of the last three years) coming from bilateral industrial research contracts at 14%, competitive research projects at 74% and government institutional funding at 12%. It is one of the top research and development employers for highly qualified personnel in the region of Northern Greece, as more than 1100 people work at CERTH, with the majority being engineers and scientists. CERTH has received numerous awards and distinctions such as the European Descartes Prize, the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, Microsoft International Contest Prize, the Trading Agents Competition Award and many more. It is currently ranked in the 15th position among the EU Research Centers in terms of H2020 Net EU Contribution. More specifically, CERTH is ranked 1st in Greece and 14th among the distinguished European Research Centers. At the same time, the research centre demonstrates a unique ability to innovate, as evidenced by its numerous bilateral contracts with the industry. The same ability is reflected in the significant economic activity of its 17 spin-off companies. The Information Technologies Institute (ITI) of CERTH is a leading European research actor in applied artificial intelligence, data fusion, digital systems, and advanced software technologies, with strong relevance to security, defence, and societal resilience applications. Within ITI, the Multimedia, Knowledge and Social Media Analytics for Disaster Management (M4D) Group focuses on mission-driven research that transforms heterogeneous data into actionable knowledge for decision support in complex, high-risk environments.

Furthermore, M4D conducts advanced research in AI-driven data fusion, situational awareness, knowledge management, explainable decision support, digital twins, simulation-supported analytics, and human-centric interfaces. These capabilities directly support defence and security domains, including civil protection, critical infrastructure protection, crisis and emergency management, hybrid threat awareness, and multi-domain operational decision-making. The group has extensive experience in developing interoperable, standards-aware solutions that integrate sensor data, models, and human inputs across distributed operational ecosystems.

The M4D Group plays a leading technical role in large-scale European research and innovation actions, including Horizon Europe, European Defence Fund, and civil security programmes, delivering operational prototypes, validation frameworks, and policy-relevant outcomes. Emphasis is placed on usability, trust, and explainability, ensuring that AI-enabled tools are suitable for operational adoption by authorities, first responders, and defence stakeholders.

Supported by CERTH’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and strategic investments under CERTH 2.0, ITI and the M4D Group combine scientific excellence with technology transfer, contributing to innovation ecosystems, industrial collaboration, and the deployment of resilient, secure, and interoperable digital solutions aligned with European security and defence priorities