Explanatory film: What are cognitive Internet technologies?

Cognitive Internet technologies - The key to digital sovereignty and future economic competitiveness in Germany and Europe

Our modern economy is already connected and digital. But is it ready for the future?

The next step in development

To fully exploit the potential of Industrie 4.0 and the Internet of things, we need to move to the next stage of development: combining the strengths of humans and digital technologies to create cognitive Internet technologies. When it comes to data processing, machines and computers are admittedly unbeatable. But if they are to independently recognize contexts and adapt to new situations, we need to teach them how to learn.

More and more precise and faster

Once we do this, business processes will be able to self-optimize autonomously by collecting data from various sources, learning to understand it, and becoming faster and increasingly precise over time. However, even as this happens, companies will retain control over the use of their data at all times, even outside of their organization. This will make it possible for experts to collaborate with automated units efficiently, for operators and manufacturers to improve systems together, and for people and machines to communicate directly through voice and gestures.

Real things linked to data

Cognitive Internet technologies connect the physical world of objects to the digital world of data and learning algorithms to create highly intelligent, controllable applications. The Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Internet Technologies CCIT develops the key technologies necessary for this. These include reliable electronics and intelligent sensor technology that collect and communicate data in real time, secure data rooms where even sensitive data can be shared confidently and safely, and hybrid AI methods that combine machine learning with specialist knowledge.

Added value for society

These new technologies will give rise to new business models and applications for the economy—and added value for our whole society, from smart intersections for the city of the future to digitalized agriculture that can respond to population growth and climate change, right up to smart medicine that enables early recognition and treatment of diseases. Cognitive Internet technologies are the key to ensuring digital sovereignty and future economic competitiveness in Germany and Europe. Fraunhofer CCIT puts them into practice.