RESEARCH GROUPS

The Institute's scientific research activities in the first ten years will focus on critical enabling technologies for Industry 4.0 and 5.0. The digitisation and digital transformation of the economy and society, the circular economy, the transfer of research results and technological knowledge into the environment while protecting intellectual property, and thus promoting technological, non-technological and social innovation, more technologically sophisticated entrepreneurship and, therefore, increased productivity and added value in the economy.

The R&D unit of Rudolfovo includes:

Laboratory for Factories of the Future
Centre for Digital Transformation
Centre for Circular Economy
Centre for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property

Laboratory for Factories of the Future

The Laboratory for Factories of the Future continues the work of the eponymous laboratory within the Novo mesto Development Centre. It covers critical enabling technologies for Industry 4.0: robotics, automation, machine vision, the IoT, advanced machining technologies and additive technologies.

It will operate a demonstration centre for smart factories, which it will take over from the Development Centre. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment in almost all the technology areas mentioned above. It will be available for companies to test before they decide to invest, to train employees of companies that need such equipment and to inspire young people (children, schoolchildren, students) to enter STEM careers.

Centre for Digital Transformation

The Centre for Digital Transformation covers key enabling technologies for digitisation and digital transformation of the economy and local communities: artificial intelligence, digital twins, business process informatisation, data technologies, high-performance and quantum computing, big data, and cybersecurity. In addition to the technological aspect, it also examines digitisation's impact on society, employees, and ethical and moral dilemmas. These accompany digitalisation, e-participation, e-democracy and e-citizenship.

Centre for Circular Economy

The Centre focuses on the circular economy which is a reaction to the pressure of a growing economy and consumption on limited resources, on the carrying capacity of the environment, and is one of the more developed concepts that fully follows EU environmental law or EU environmental policies post-2008.

It is developing a Circular Economy Implementation Testing Environment (hereafter TestCE), the essential purpose of which is to use the software developed to explore and build potential synergy links between stakeholders who could be best placed to be involved in the stages of the circular economy process – at local, regional, and national level.

Centre for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property

The Centre researches and develops methods and processes for transferring technological knowledge to the business environment and strengthening intellectual property management (hereinafter: TT/IP).

According to the Elaboration of Rudolfovo the aim of the efforts to transfer technological knowledge to the business environment and to strengthen intellectual property management is to promote networking and cooperation between public research organisations and industry and to enhance the competencies of researchers and enterprises in the management and exploitation of intellectual property and technology transfer.