Press Releases 2023

By 2023, billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices found their way into almost every area of life, industry and critical infrastructures. As these permanently connected smart devices process very sensitive data, their up-to-dateness is essential to close vulnerabilities and thus enhance cybersecurity. In this context, a new Fraunhofer ISI study analysed data of 52 billion devices.

A new Fraunhofer ISI Lithium-Ion battery roadmap focuses on the scaling activities of the battery industry until 2030 and considers the technological options, approaches and solutions in the areas of materials, cells, production, systems and recycling. The study examines three trends in particular: The production of performance-optimized, low-cost and sustainable batteries.

The research project MobileCityGame and the MobileCity app have won the German Mobility Award. Led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, a team of around 30 persons have developed a unique simulator to plan sustainable mobility systems in cities. The app uses gamification to make the transformation of the transport sector, which is needed to achieve the climate goals, comprehensible and accessible to all in a playful manner.

Led by Fraunhofer ISI, the BOLD project provided scientific support accompanying three field trials and twelve other research projects on electric trucks powered by overhead lines. Together with ifeu and Öko-Institut and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Fraunhofer ISI analyzed the acceptance of the technology, the opportunities and barriers in industry and the policy landscape as well as the climate and environmental impact of the technology. The now published final report describes the main lessons from these projects and assesses the potential rollout of the technology.

Existing strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are unlikely to be sufficient to mitigate climate change. One way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the air is through negative emissions, which is the removal of CO₂ from the air followed by storage. Various natural and technical processes are available for this purpose. One of these technical options is Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage (DACCS). In the current Policy Brief, the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges of this process.

Mobile units for processing fruit and vegetables on-site may play an important role in food supply in 2035. The EU’s FOX project investigated the form that such local food chains might take. To this end, Fraunhofer ISI developed future scenarios that could be used to test the viability of business models for regional food processing and distribution.

Many European countries, including Germany, are planning large investments to develop and ramp up the hydrogen industry needed for this. Within the HyPat research project, a new study by Fraunhofer ISI, RIFS Potsdam and the German Energy Agency (dena) makes five recommendations to the EU and the Member States and reveals a significant mismatch between the ratio of current investments and the potentials of individual European regions for low-cost hydrogen production.

Fraunhofer ISI's new roadmap looks at alternative battery technologies for the period up to 2045. Their technology-specific advantages, future areas of application, markets and supply chains are analyzed, as well as Europe's positioning, the costs and the industrial scalability. The roadmap also identifies areas where the EU and Germany need to take action with regard to technology sovereignty. It was developed as part of the BMBF accompanying project BEMA II.

In the "H2GO" project, Fraunhofer ISI conducted an innovation analysis on fuel cells, the results of which have now been published on a new website. It covers insights into the development and diffusion of emerging technologies as well as estimates concerning the emergence of new markets and the development of production capacities. Together with complementary studies on electrolysis, this creates a basis for a comprehensive roadmap of hydrogen technologies.

As of July 1, 2023, Prof. Dr. Jakob Edler, Executive Director of the Fraunhofer ISI in Karlsruhe, has taken over the chairmanship of the Fraunhofer Group for Innovation Research. Edler succeeds Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bauer, who is a member of the Institute Directorate of Fraunhofer IAO in Stuttgart and has chaired the Group for six years since its founding.