Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research

The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer-ISI) is part of the Fraunhofer Society for Applied Research in Germany, a non-profit corporation, which promotes applied research and ensures the link between fundamental and industrial research.

Adding new perspectives for decision-making processes, Fraunhofer-ISI in Karlsruhe analyses the scientific, economic, social and political origins and market potentials of innovative technological developments and their impacts on the economy, state and society. The interdisciplinary research teams focus on emerging technologies, industrial and service innovations, energy policy and energy systems, sustainability and infrastructure systems, innovation and technology management and foresight, policy and regions as well as regulation. Scientists of the institute process around 280 research and consultancy projects per year, some in close cooperation with other research institutions inside and outside the Fraunhofer Society. ISI’s most important client is the public sector, for instance several German federal ministries and ministries of the federal states as well as the European Union. Further important clients are industrial enterprises and industrial associations.

Two institutions of Fraunhofer-ISI work in close cooperation with ESA²:

Competence Center Energy Technology and Energy Systems: The Competence Center Energy Technology and Energy Systems analyses innovative energy technologies and their contribution to a sustainable energy system from a strategic perspective. The competence center consists of the Business Units Energy Efficiency, Energy Economy and Demand Analyses and Projections. One specific competence of the center is energy demand modelling on an annual and hourly basis while taking account of the impact of technology experience, policy measures and socio-economic factors on technology dynamics.

Competence Center Sustainability and Infrastructural Systems: The Competence Center Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems with its Transportation Systems Business Area analyses in a holistic way the impacts of transport, energy and climate strategies on the European transport, economic, social and environmental system. For more than a decade, the Business Area has developed System Dynamics models to advise policymakers and the industry on policies and strategies in the field of sustainable transport.