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MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENTGENERAL SECRETARIAT OF RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGYSUPERVISION OF RESEARCH INSTITUTION DIRECTORATE

REPORT OF THE EVALUATION COMMITTEE

“Evolving IT Structures in Greece”Evaluation of Research Institutes (CETI, ILSP, ISI, ITI)

Athens, 7 October 2000

Research domain: Informatics and Applied Mathematics

Institutes:

CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTEINSTITUTE FOR LANGUAGE AND SPEECH PROCESSING

INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS INSTITUTEINFORMATICS AND TELEMATICS INSTITUTE

Karin AnstoetzChristian DelcourtNikos SekourisDaniel ThalmannLuis Torres

Table of contents

Executive Summary..........................................................................................................................................3General Executive Summary........................................................................................................................3Cultural and Educational Technology Institute - CETI................................................................................4Institute of Language and Speech Processing– ILSP...................................................................................4Industrial Systems Institute – ISI.................................................................................................................5Informatics and Telematics Institute – ITI...................................................................................................5

Part 1.................................................................................................................................................................71.1 General Description of the field.......................................................................................................71.2 State of the art in Greece, compared to Europe and the rest of the world........................................71.3 Opportunities and threats in relation to the national and regional economy....................................81.4 Recommendations and Measures to be taken...................................................................................8

Part 2: The Research Institutes.........................................................................................................................91.1 Cultural and Educational Technology Institute - CETI....................................................................9

1.1.1 General outlook........................................................................................................................91.1.2 Criteria for Evaluation..............................................................................................................91.1.3 Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................................................11

1.2 Institute of Language and Speech Processing– ILSP.....................................................................131.2.1 General Outlook.....................................................................................................................131.2.2 Criteria for evaluation.............................................................................................................131.2.3 Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................................................16

1.3 Industrial Systems Institute - ISI....................................................................................................171.3.1 General outlook......................................................................................................................171.3.2 Criteria for Evaluation............................................................................................................171.3.3 Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................................................19

1.4 Informatics and Telematics Institute – ITI.....................................................................................211.4.1 General outlook......................................................................................................................211.4.2 Criteria for Evaluation............................................................................................................211.4.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:................................................................................23

Part 3: Further Remarks..................................................................................................................................25

Filename: document.doc

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Executive Summary

General Executive Summary

The Institutes evaluated in the Information Technology area present highly developed skills and represent the state of the art in basic research and development in the associated fields. The influence of the Institutes in the Greek public and private sectors is high, particularly those which have been already working for several years. The Institutes are widely geographically distributed in Greece which serves to potentate different areas. The Institutes are closely related to the Greek University system which serves to mutually potentate the academic and research activities.

The creation of Institutes is an excellent initiative that should be maintained and even reinforced. The following general recommendations are provided:

Although it is important that research and development lead to concrete products and commercial activities, basic research should be strongly supported, as current development and applied research is based on previous basic research. A lack of basic research in the future could easily lead fast to great limitations in development.

Institutes should have strong commitment in areas where they have already shown potential. However, due to the multimedia nature of information, their scientific output should be less limited to their designated areas of expertise (for instance, speech and language experts should try to use other type of information in their activities such as images, graphs, etc.)

The Institutes should develop a “business plan” approach in their management, at least to document the estimated revenues and costs associated with each activity area. Furthermore, all activities regarding person-effort and use of infrastructure should be recorded in order to revise the business plan at regular time intervals using actual data. Efforts should be dedicated to explore the economic impact of new developments.

The development of Institutes should not weaken the role of Universities. Competition between Institutes and Universities should be avoided as far as possible, while cooperation should be strongly encouraged.

The Institute management should aim to form strategic alliances with the private sector (e.g. contracts with an extension option) in order to ensure continuity of research.

One of the key factors for the success of the Institutes is to have permanent research associated personnel. Most of the institutes have a notable lack of mid-level research personnel, as they mostly consist of senior academics and students. The attraction and retention of personnel should be encouraged by means of competitive salaries and attractive work environment.

Institutes should have adequate housing facilities. Some of them are in urgent need to move to permanent and bigger facilities.

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Cultural and Educational Technology Institute - CETI

The Cultural and Educational Technology Institute, CETI, started its operations in September 1999. The basic aim of CETI is the strengthening of research and technological activities and the application of new technologies to the preservation and enhancement of culture and education. The Institute has started to work in different areas concentrated in two main laboratories: archaeometry and document archiving. No permanent staff or researchers are associated to the Institute.

Most of the external funding comes from Greek national projects and services provided to national and provincial public services. The Institute is involved in one European project related to teaching and educational activities.

The Institute is encouraged to pursue work in all already identified areas. However if after the end of year 2002 some activities do not produce the necessary revenues, they should be abandoned. This will have to be measured by the number of publications and revenue generated.

In order to fulfil all the activities proposed for the next years, which require an increase in personnel and the purchase of more equipment, the Institute should have more adequate housing facilities. It is strongly encouraged that the Institute may own permanent facilities in the near future.

It is highly advised that the Institute has a minimum number of associated researchers in order to establish a critical mass. It is foreseen that the Institute would need at least 10 full-time permanent researchers (C and D).

The Institute is encouraged to work in close cooperation with other Institutes working in the same area. Cooperation with the Informatics and Telematics Institute which has similar activities in the multimedia area is highly recommended. Of special importance is the cooperation with the Xanthi branch of ILSP. The two Institutes should avoid duplication of activities.

Activities conducted in the Institute use Information Technology tools but the main applications are not in the Information Technology field. It is therefore advised to GSRT to consider the possibility to move the Institute to another scientific area.

Institute of Language and Speech Processing– ILSP

The ILSP is an 8 year old institute, located in Athens with a branch in Xanthi, having 100 staff. ILSP has 5 research departments (Electronic Lexicography, Language Application in Office Systems, Educational Technology, Speech Technology, Machine Translation) and 2 Business Administration departments (Administrative and Liaison).

The evaluation showed as one important result that the larger an institute, the more important become the management issues. This applies also to ILSP, as far as the future plans are concerned.

ILSP is on the latest state of the art regarding technical equipment, technical methods used and innovation in the field of speech, information and text technology. ILSP was evaluated to be amongst the best institutes in Europe and worldwide. The research staff consists of 45 engineers and 35 linguists, which represents a good balance of expertise for the recent scope of activities. Future diversification would need re-thinking the organisational structure.

Given the comparatively low amount of public funding for S&T Research in Greece, the ILSP is a real asset in the international scientific community and should be treated and estimated as a top-level institute.

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Industrial Systems Institute – ISI

Probably the most striking characteristic of the ISI RTD and innovation activities is the broadness of scope (large number of research areas). This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the ISI. The broadness allows more opportunity for error, thus letting external forces (market) and internal forces (scientific committee, researchers) interact during the initial phases rather than restricting the scope from the beginning. The challenge for the management is to establish the internal control mechanisms to be able to rationalize the scope from 12 areas to a more manageable 3-6 in the next 5 years.

Our recommendation to the management is to define a self-evaluation process based on measurable criteria (metrics) regarding:

- Market potential of undertaken research & development- Cost accounting and budgeting (per department, per project, per infrastructure item)

In its short life, and because of the overwhelming administrative focus on setting itself up, the Institute has not been able to realize fully the first of its primary goals, which is commercialisation and exploitation. Although prototypes have been developed, the financial results have not reflected the ISI’s potential. To achieve this goal a sound market orientation must be established.

The marketing strategy stated by the ISI is following current trends, but is not sufficient on its own. The marketing process must be established in the organizational structure (e.g. with a Liaison Office) employing full time personnel that will:

- Collect and analyse market data for decision support- Compose the informational and promotional material- Actively promote the Institute in conferences, events, specialized press, and newsletters.

Regarding the second primary goal, which is direct contracts with private and public industry, the situation is similar in the sense that the first few contracts with the private sector have been realized, but it is too early to judge how strategic these relationships are. Our recommendation to the management is to set a clear goal of a good balance between:

- one-off projects that bring short-term income and utilize resources but with no long-term benefits, and

- contracts that contain extension options, or establish regular income over time.

Concluding, we foresee that the ISI must be funded to reach its critical mass consisting mainly of researchers, but augmented by a marketing and an accounting department. The last two will support the management to become more rigid and define strategy based on market and cost accounting data

Informatics and Telematics Institute – ITI

ITI, founded in 1998, already exhibits substantial research activity, both basic and industry-oriented, as well as technology transfer actions, in the several areas of Information Technology especially Multimedia and Internet Technologies, Educational and Cultural Technologies, and Virtual Reality. In 3D and stereoscopy imaging and video coding, there is no competitor in Greece. At the European level, ITI is also a leader and among the best in the world.

ITI is already partner in several EU projects and also financed by many Greek projects. Income from EU projects represents 25% of the total income. This is a remarkable aspect for a young institute. It should be noticed that, for most of these projects, they are coordinators. The publication record is very impressive (about 40 per year) with a large number of papers (about 12 per year) in excellent journals. The training of young researchers is very important, as the majority of personnel are scientists under research training. However, the consequence is that the Institute needs to have more senior researchers to train these young researchers. The percentage of income from sales and services is not so high now, but it is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. The Director of ITI also wants to encourage actively researchers in

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starting and / or participating in spin-off companies. Although the Institute is too young to have developed a real strategy of product development, there are already a few nice pre-products.

At this time, the Institute is well equipped, the management seems to be very efficient and the use of resources appropriate. The Director of the Institute has a strong leadership and a lot of competence. The existing structure in terms of research units should more reflect the reality. The management should be more cautious in the future of the infrastructure expenses and periodically control these expenses versus the use of the resources.

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Part 1

1.1 General Description of the field

Information Technology is a field with momentum growth sustained during the last few decades. The advent of Internet and the Web technology has deeply changed the way of working, communicating, and making business. It is even recognized by many specialists as a New Economy that affects the society in general.

Information technology can be defined as the set of tools and methods for creating, storing, transmitting and providing to the user all information that are converted into a digital form. Multimedia is a key aspect in Information Technology as it includes at least text, images, movies, sound, and speech information.

This means that the field of Information Technology covers a wide spectrum of areas. A non-exhaustive list of topics is as follows:

Speech and language processing Image processing Computer Graphics Audio processing Virtual Reality and multimodal interaction Communication systems Intelligent systems

Information technology has an impact in many domains. We may cite a few ones among the most important:

Educational applications Medical applications Industry Cultural heritage Geographical Information Systems

2.1 State of the art in Greece, compared to Europe and the rest of the world

Information technology has received a lot of attention in EU since the beginning of research programs with the creation of ESPRIT, RACE/ACTS and now IST programs. This has greatly contributed at the European level to the development of the R&D in the field. Greece as a EU member participates (and has participated) to a number of IT projects. However, the number of research teams seems to be rather limited compared to other countries. This means that there are a limited number of excellent Research teams in Greece, but there is a capability of increasing the number of participating teams.

Among the fields of IT, where Greece indicates to have strength, are:

Image processing Speech and language processing Cultural heritage

The last two fields are particular to Greece as the country has a specific language and a unique cultural heritage.

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2.2 Opportunities and threats in relation to the national and regional economy

Opportunities

The high-technology sector in Greece is growing to support the investment in key areas such as telecommunications, information technology, energy, construction. As the sector is of importance for the European Union as a whole, and for Greece in particular, every effort should be undertaken to stimulate the information industry in both, research and development. For Greece, the basic conditions are similar as in other European countries, as the information technology requires mainly intellectual capacity, well-educated manpower and inventiveness in the field of technical innovation. From this point of view, a strong strategic impact, resulting from the institutes of applied research can be expected. Europe has the main characteristics of being multi-lingual, multi-cultural society. Consequently, the relevance of information technology, particularly on languages, is much higher than in US or Japan. In the near future, new countries will enter the EU, which could be an opportunity for Greek labs to take advantage of the position being located close to the Balkan area.

ThreatsAs a major threat the brain drain of Institutes’ personnel should be taken into consideration. All strategic planning will fail, if a brain drain will be the consequence of strong efforts in education and research. Hence, the major challenge will be to become attractive and competitive in offering good working conditions in the country’s capital on one hand, in regions on the other. A competitive salary is one factor, excellent working conditions, good research climate and opportunities for interesting careers for young people are another.

High-profile one-off projects (e.g. Olympics) will provide money, but with questionable value and continuity for the Institutes. Hence, the institutes and their spin-offs should invest in those fields that promise a perspective of continuous development and high-potential opportunities of commercialisation. The general line for the institutes should be clearly focusing strategic alliances rather than grasping loose or opportunistic contracts.

2.3 Recommendations and Measures to be taken

The creation of Institutes is an excellent initiative that should be maintained and even reinforced. However, we think that some aspects should be considered with caution:

The development of Institutes should not weaken the role of Universities. In any case, there should not be competition between Institutes and Universities, but cooperation should be strongly encouraged

Although it is important that research and development lead to concrete products and commercial activities, basic research should be strongly supported, as current development and applied research is based on recent basic research. A lack of basic research in the future could easily lead fast to great limitations in development.

Institutes should have strong commitment in areas where they are already strong. However, due to the nature multimedia nature of information, they should try to open the width of their domains.

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Part 2: The Research Institutes

2.1 Cultural and Educational Technology Institute - CETI

2.1.1 General outlook

The Cultural and Educational Technology Institute started its operations in September 1999 as an independent institute. CETI is located in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The basic aim of CETI is the strengthening of research and technological activities and the application of new technologies to the preservation and enhancement of culture and education. As an important boundary condition to appreciate the working environment of CETI, it has to be clearly understood that CETI has been set up to enhance, strengthen and further improve the technological capabilities of Thrace and its surrounding regions taking into account the different cultures which are in the region. In this context the assessment of CETI has to take into account the less developed technical aspect of the region when compared to other Greek regions.

The Institute acts as a gathering of people and resources. The Institute wants also to promote, in addition to research and technological activities, the provision of qualified professors to the University of Xanthi.

The Cultural and Educational Technology Institute is supervised by its director and a Scientific Board composed by five persons with the following background: a professor of Computer Science, an archaeologist, a History professor and two staff members of the Institute of Language and Speech Processing with a background on linguistics and computer science.

No permanent staff or researchers are associated to the Institute. The Director is not paid by the Institute but by the University of Xanthi. The technicians, scientists and research personnel are being supported by external funds.

The Institute has started to work in different areas concentrated in two main laboratories: archaeometry and document archiving. Further areas will be started in the near future clustered around the following five laboratories: paper and parchment, 3D imaging, e-learning, environment and cultural heritage and audio-visual.

2.1.2 Criteria for Evaluation

(a) Quality of the research undertaken, in comparison to corresponding international or indigenous activities and trends

As the Institute started its operations in September 1999, it has not had enough time to show yet its research potential. As is always the case with newly founded Institutes, most of the time has been spent on management tasks, setting up the infrastructure and marketing operations. Within these boundary conditions, the quality of research has to be appreciated through the past curricula of main key personnel. The curricula of the main University professors involved in the Institute is highly appreciated. Of special relevance is the curriculum of the Director of the Institute, who has developed the main part of his career in the United States in the fields of Signal and Image Processing.

Financial resources for research from outside the Institute mainly come from already existing projects running in the University of Xanthi at the time the Institute started its operations and new projects which were proposed directly from CETI. Most of the external funding comes from national Greek projects and services provided to national and provincial public services. The Institute is involved in one European project related to teaching and educational activities. Due to the short functioning time of the Institute no patents have been filed and no significant publications have been reported.

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(b) Exploitation of the research implemented, through cooperation with Greek and foreign scientific and commercial organisations, contribution to technological development

The exploitation of the research implemented is very dependent on the time elapsed since the foundation of the Institute. As this time has been less than a year, no evaluation can be provided regarding this issue. It has also to be taken into account that there are not important technological companies in the area which, to at some extent, affects the exploitation plans of the Institute.

Personnel of the Institute have been involved in a CD-ROM production done under the coordination of the University of Thrace in cooperation with different other public and private institutes. This product shows the future potential of the Institute regarding multimedia technology.

The main exploitation and services of the implemented work is to provide to the Greek Parliament a wide database on Thrace heritage. The Institute is in the process of getting revenues associated to the expensive equipment that has been acquired (archaeometry laboratory). Contacts with the Greek productive sector are made on a personal basis through the researchers of the Institute.

(c) Evaluation of the employed human potential, facilities and equipment for its sufficiency, effectiveness, quality, degree of utilisation and capability to adapt to new requirements

Human potential

There are no permanent researchers. The human potential basically relies on staff coming from the University of Thrace and research assistants supported on research contracts. The curriculum of the Director of the Institute is mainly related to audio-visual technologies which has helped to start multimedia activities.

The salary of the research assistants is lower than salaries offered by private companies in the area which can endanger the stability and continuity of research personnel. In addition as it seems difficult to attract people from other Greek or European regions because of political insecurity and turmoil in near areas, special care has to be provided to compensate salaries and work attractiveness when hiring new personnel at any level.

Regarding human potential, it has to be stated that there is an ILSP branch located in Xanthi. The activities of the Xanthi branch of ILSP could help to further develop the activities of the Institute and vice versa.

Facilities

The Institute is housed in a very small building and does not have the convenient working space to develop its daily activities. To accommodate new equipment, new working space will be needed.

Equipment

The equipment can be broadly divided in two categories.

General computer and multimedia facilities Specific equipment.

The Institute has very adequate computer facilities and state of the art image acquisition technology.

The specific equipment refers to the archaeometry laboratory and consists of radiation and spectroscopy systems. These systems are quite complex, difficult and expensive to use, manage and maintain. The current staff maintaining this equipment is qualified but some additional personnel would be needed to fully exploit the possibilities of the equipment. This personnel should have a strong background in radiation and spectroscopy systems.

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(d) Comparisons to similar R&D activities in Greece, in Europe and in the world. Assessment of the positioning of the institute today and forecast for the near future. Assessment of the alliances, their viability and effectiveness, in relation to the goals of the institute’s strategy and the national context

The members of the evaluation team have understood the importance of all the areas of the Institute but it should be expressed that the archaeometry activities are very far from their working field and cannot be properly evaluated neither compared. In addition, it has to be stated again that the Institute is still very young and is still trying to find its own space in the technological scenario. To the best of our knowledge, the radiation and spectroscopy systems are unique in Greece which will enhance the role of the Institute in the country.

The multimedia activities are at an early stage of development and position themselves as very similar to other small and medium laboratories in Greece and Europe. It is not the intention of the Institute to play a key role in Greece or Europe concerning basic research in multimedia general activities. However, the application of Multimedia technology to specific future cultural and heritage activities might have a great impact in the role of the Institute for the future.

(e) Assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the institute’s management, compared to the resources available. Identification of potential sources of economies of scale and scope and recommendations for measures to be taken

In spite of the scarce resources and lack of permanent personnel, the Institute is being successful in creating a technological environment in Thrace. The management of the Institute has relied mainly on his Director and associated personnel of the University of Thrace. The effort of the Institute’s Director as a catalyser in promoting the activities of the Institute is highly recognized and appreciated.

As the Institute has had to dedicate most of its time to set up the infrastructure the working environment, no time has been left to plan and develop specific marketing strategy for the future. However, it can be foreseen that one of the major potential sources of growth will rely on e-learning activities. The Institute has to develop specific management plans to tackle this activity, in agreement with local companies and similar Institutes in the area.

It has been detected that a scientist of CETI is conducting work on language studies while scientists of the Xanthi branch of ILSP are conducting activities on e-learning. Both Institutes should develop joint management strategies in order to optimise their skills and performance and achieve economies of scale.

2.1.3 Conclusions and Recommendations

(a) Research and technological development and innovation activities of the Institute

In addition to the speciality of the Institute on cultural and educational technology applications, the Institute should also concentrate on basic research activities. The Institute should develop specific plans to achieve the high level of research which must characterize an Institute associated to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology. To fulfil this requirement the Institute should produce publications in the most recognized journals of the field and papers in the most prestigious conferences. Every single effort should be done to have at least one journal paper and two conference papers per researcher per year.

At the European level, efforts should be make to obtain European research and development projects within the next calls for proposals of the European Union. The external budget of the Institute should find a balance between European projects, Greek projects and additional services.

The Institute should use specific equipment to provide services and a good research environment to act as a catalyser in the field. The publication of research papers in the field of archaeometry will prove the good use of the equipment.

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The Institute has been successful in identifying activity areas which will be developed in the near future and, in particular, the educational technology area is of special interest in the European Union. In this area, effort will have to be put only in the goals set up by the GSRD.

The Institute is encouraged to pursue work in all already identified areas. However if after the end of year 2002 some activities do not produce the necessary revenues, they should be abandoned. This will have to be measured by the number of publications and income.

The success of a research institute is also measured according to the number of prestigious foreign researchers. The Institute should develop specific strategies to attract foreign researchers and to have a minimum fixed budget allocated to that purpose. The Institute should also pursue, through the Leonardo program, the incorporation of foreign students into its research activities.

Regarding the creation and access of different data basis, strong recommendation is given to follow and apply MPEG-7 standardization activities to the creation of the data basis. This will further potentate the audio-visual activities research of the Institute and will provide mechanisms to enhance the relationships with other European universities and research institutes.

(b) The structure and the management pattern of the institute

In order to fulfil all the activities proposed for the next years, which require an increase in personnel and the purchase of more equipment, the Institute should have more adequate housing facilities. It is strongly recommended that the Institute may own permanent facilities in the near future.

It is highly advised that the Institute has a minimum number of associated researchers in order to establish a critical mass. It is foreseen that the Institute would need at least 10 fixed permanent researchers (C and D). This is a key condition for the survival of the Institute in a high-qualified research area. This manpower assignment will imply three research leaders per activity (multimedia, educational technology and cultural technology).

In order to attract and to retain technicians and research assistants, the Institute is encouraged to pay high competitive salaries comparable to the same positions of the private enterprises of the area.

The Institute is encouraged to work in close cooperation with other Institutes working in the same area. Cooperation with the Informatics and Telematics Institute which have similar activities in the multimedia area is recommended. Of special importance is the cooperation with the Xanthi branch of ILSP. The two Institutes should avoid duplication of activities.

The Institute should develop mechanisms to estimate the income and the revenues associated to each activity area. Person-effort and equipment usage should be budgeted to estimate the economical potential of each new development.

Finally, it has been detected that many of the activities conducted in the Institute use Information Technology tools but the main applications are not in the Information Technology field. It is advised to consider the need to move the Institute to another scientific area of GSRT.

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2.2 Institute of Language and Speech Processing– ILSP

2.2.1 General Outlook

The ILSP is an 8 year old institute, located in Athens with a branch in Xanthi, having staff of 100. ILSP has 5 research departments (Electronic Lexicography, Language Application in Office Systems, Educational Technology, Speech Technology, Machine Translation) and 2 Business Administration departments (Administrative and Liaison).

The evaluation showed as one important result that the larger an institute, the more important become the management issues. This applies also to ILSP, as far as the future plans are concerned.

ILSP is on the latest state of the art regarding technical equipment, technical methods used and innovation in the field of speech, information and text technology. ILSP was evaluated to be amongst the best institutes in Europe and worldwide. The research staff consists of 45 engineers and 35 linguists, which represents a good balance of expertise for the recent scope of activities. Future diversification would need re-thinking the staff body.

Given the comparatively low amount of public funding for S&T Research in Greece, the ILSP is a real asset in the international scientific community and should be treated and estimated as a top-level institute.

2.2.2 Criteria for evaluation


Know-how, innovative ideas, quality of research in mechanisms and methods applied were fully appreciated. It was identified, that ILSP has built up an excellent know how base in its field, which is comparable with the best in the field. The complementary expertise that is associated in the ILSP has made remarkable achievements possible (the outstanding quality of their spelling checker, of their computer assisted learning products, etc. stem to a large extend from their expertise in computational linguistics). The relatively small number of average publications and patents per researcher are a weak point, but should be seen in the light of the more qualitative assets of the Institute. Besides it should be noted that the ILSP has 6 books in preparation and notably a book on machine translation that is likely to make a date in Greek linguistics. The know how and the human potential which is concentrated in the ILSP, plus the impressive dedication to their work, was seen as a very good condition for further good results in the field and in some extended areas, e.g. multimodal data and internet technologies. The ILSP is considered to be in a pole position to increase work and results in their special field, on one hand. Increased efforts on basic research in future technology, e.g. multimedia information retrieval and machine translation would verify ILSP's ability to adapt to future technologies.


Regarding the products, there can be stated that interesting ideas have been transformed into excellent (e.g. spelling software) software, which was poorly marketed. Regarding training of young people, the ILSP achieves comparable quantitative results to other institutes in the field. The ILSP has an income resulting

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from its commercial activities that amounts to about 11 % which is fair for the present, but should be increased in the future.

Income from patents could not be realized so far. Income from user support, which could be a source for increased self-financing, has not been achieved for the reason of just entering the market of educational software. Regarding the participation in consortia, and regarding the high potential of contacts and industrial partners, the Institute collaborates on a high level.

As far as information technology in a broader context (multimedia technology) is concerned, ILSP is recently acting on a niche market in research and development due to its combination of complementary skills of speech, information, text technology and natural language processing with Greek as main application. This complementary know how in a specific field is considered to be a full strength, but with regard to useful technologies of the near future, this strength could result into a weakness, if no provision will be taken. Some extension of its activities, in order the make best use of human capital and facilities, could be fruitful in the field of Eastern European languages (machine translation) and information retrieval, information extraction and information presentation on a multi-modal level.


Human resourcesThe employed human potential presented showed an excellent expertise in the specific fields and an impressive commitment to the work in the Institute, inspired by the leadership of its Director. Equipped with sufficient technical resources for their recent spectrum of tasks, the value for money is good. Age structure of personnel and the framework of the organization (division of departments, allocation of manpower to work) was good with some necessities for improvements on the level of self-marketing, suitable for international presence in the research field, project-based cost controlling. In addition to the fact that a number of staff members spent a number of years in foreign institutions, the international dimension of ILSP as it is now could be improved by the acquisition of personnel from other countries, e.g. for research sabbaticals, member of scientific board, etc.

Facilities

The new building of the ILSP is perfectly appropriate to the present size of the team and the equipment, too.

EquipmentThe technical equipment, used for basic research and extensive efforts in development, is on a level which represents a workable solution for the ILSP. The products produced and marketed on a small scale, match in perfection of layout the level of comparable Japanese products in the field, with a Greek language (cultural) content. As an indicator for good working atmosphere the average employment period of 4-5 years (researchers and technicians) can be chosen, which is comparatively very good, given the recent labour market situation.


The positioning of the ILSP in Greece is unique and fully satisfying regarding their integration in the scientific community.

If we consider one by one, the five R&D departments of the ILSP (which is sort of an artificial separation, just for the sake of evaluation), we can state the following:

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Each of them has reached the same high level of performance as the best EU institutes. This weights the more, as amongst the best institutes are also those, who invest all resources in one or two fields only. (Examples: 1. the Istituto di Linguistica computazionale in Italy as far as electronic corpora and lexica are concerned, 2. the Center for Sprogteknologi in Denmark as far as machine translation and electronic lexica are concerned, 3. the ICP-Grenoble as far as speech is concerned, 4. some parts Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Germany, as far as speech processing/information sciences is concerned).

It should be incidentally noted that the institutes with which the ILSP was compared in the fields in question, often do have a larger number of government paid researchers (the teams of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique are typical in this respect). They are not expected to derive as much funding from contracts with the European Commission or from the sale of products compared to ILSP.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the ILSP is partner of prominent foreign centres. Examples are: Lernout & Hauspie (Belgium), as far as the private sector is concerned, and the LIMSI (Laboratoire d'Informatique pour la Mecanique et les Sciences de l'Ingenieur, France) as far as the research environment is concerned. ILSP took also part in outstanding EU projects (as PAROLE and SIMPLE), and was founding member in the creation of international institutions or networks such as ELSNET and ELRA. Finally, it should be stressed that the ILSP succeeded in signing a strategic contract with PANAFON, a major firm that has high standards. The fact that the ILSP is directly working for the European Commission in the field of machine translation is also worth to mention.

Even if there are a number of players in the field in Europe, it should be stated, that ILSP anyway, is difficult to compare because each of the institutes mentioned above has got its specific profile. Also, ILSP has some unique specifics: the focus on Greek culture and language for some of the applications is carried out by almost no-one else outside Greece. In comparison to elder institutes, the resources (100 members, technical equipment) of the ILSP seem to be not yet fully exploited in terms of publications and patents, which might be caused by the strong orientation on development close to the market. Because previous investments in human capital and the specific know-how base seem not yet to have reached their limits - in terms of quantitatively measurable results - future R&D funding should stress the point of extending the "visibility" of research and development results. This applies on products also, where it should be taken into consideration, that an appropriate organizational and legal structure for production units (spin-off's) could not yet be established.

In the near future, this would be a logical next step towards the effective commercialisation of selected results. Moderate enhancement of the recent organizational structure, by appropriate public financial support, is foreseeable for the near future. In order to keep up professionalism, this should be accompanied by an appropriate enhancement of the business administration department, the liaison department and by taking away the tasks of product support service from researchers.


The management of ILSP seemed to be effective and efficient for the recent structure. If further international positioning is intended (which would fit to the potential power of the Institute), and in case spin-off companies were implemented, the management should be supported in implementing appropriate concepts and additional manpower.The evaluation showed a lack of manpower, dedicated to the fields internet/web- technologies and multimedia, particularly regarding the branch in Thrace. ILSP branch in Thrace and CETI should avoid duplication of activities.

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2.2.3 Conclusions and Recommendations

(a) Research and technological development and innovation activities of the Institute

As the criteria for evaluation already contain some specific recommendations in the specific context, the conclusion and recommendations are listed in bullet points, as follows - give top priority to more internationalisation and international "visibility" of the Institute’s

fundamental research in emerging technologies and its output- give equal priority to best utilization of resources and human potential already there, plus moderate

enhancement of the professionalism in marketing and project based cost controlling - create spin-off's as soon as possible without forgetting to adapt the organizational structure to this new

tasks (moderate enhancement of manpower)- if web-technologies and multimedia is agreed to be of future importance, also for ILSP, then give

special attendance to the moderate enhancement of the branch in Thrace (with regards to what is done in CETI)

- ILSP should put effort on increasing the ratio of revenues from commercial activities within the next five years.


Management was evaluated to be very efficient for the time being. Future challenges and necessary adaptations to what is common amongst the best in Europe and worldwide, would require introducing moderate changes of the organizational structure in terms of enhancing the staff body. As an institute of the size of ILSP, even targeting on diversification, needs more means in order to support management, cost efficiency on a project management base should be introduced.

Given the restriction of scarce resources in the next few years, we consider the necessity for the management to establish priorities in several levels. The toughest of those would be the decision of choosing between the orientation towards Greek culture and languages versus the higher potential of international, more generic projects.

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2.3 Industrial Systems Institute - ISI

2.3.1 General outlookGoals:Mission statement gives emphasis to:

Industrialization and commercialisation of results Direct contracts with private and public industry.

Therefore regarding the strategic level the evaluation committee believes that the ISI is very well aligned to the goals of the Ministry’s Operational Programme.

Size, age:The ISI is little over 2 years old, during which period it has proven its survivability, established itself in the “map” nationally and internationally and is now ready to grow towards its critical mass. During this first cycle, it has relied excessively on the University of Patras for:

Human resources (10 professors have formed the “core” scientific personnel) 5 Labs (Applied Electronics, VLSI Design, Automation & Robotics, Electromechanical Energy

Conversion, Manufacturing Systems) Offices

Areas of interest:ISI is active in Industrial Systems and sub-areas such as information and communication systems, modelling and automation, laser production systems, simulation and virtual reality, vlsi, micro-electro-mechanical systems, mechatronic systems, machine vision, industrial software.



If we consider the collaborating faculty members within the evaluation, the scientific output of the Institute is very good. The publication record is quite impressive with a large number of papers in excellent journals (30% IEEE).

ISI are not members of any R&D networks, they are only members of Greek Industrial Chambers that give them access to the target users of the technology.

ISI is already partner in several EU projects and also financed by many Greek projects. Income from EU projects represents 25% of the total income. This is a remarkable aspect for a young institute.


It was demonstrated that the scientific personnel operating under the ISI has a high potential of exploitation both in terms of basic research (patents, publications) and in applied research and development (prototypes, contracts with private companies).

However it has to be stressed that the income generated so far from services is negligible, and the potential has not been yet exploited. The Institute itself has recognized its inability to market the results of its work, due to lack of specialized personnel for this task.

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Human potentialIn its current structure the ISI has a notable lack of mid-level research personnel, as it mostly consists of senior academics and students. The 1 researcher that was evaluated displays a moderate research record that can be increased in the framework of the work performed at the Institute.

FacilitiesThe ISI has some limited facilities of its own (rented office that houses mainly the administration) and so far it has operated in a collaborative model with the University (exploiting the 5 labs).Acquisition of own building is foreseen as a goal for the management within the next 2-3 years. Given the current ties to the University, the evaluation team suggests that the own facilities migration should be gradual, giving priority to the “cells” that create the most benefit with the least initial investment.

EquipmentThe infrastructure funded by the ISTOS project is still in the delivery / installation process therefore its degree of utilization cannot be evaluated. Having visited the University labs, the evaluation team noticed that the acquired equipment could broadly be categorized to:

- genuine research and development platforms and tools, and- industrial platforms (e.g. laser cutting work centre) that will be used for demonstration and time-

sharing services towards the local industries.


The positioning of ISI is characterized by:- the areas of expertise, and- the geographical context, i.e. the region of South-western Greece.

Regarding the areas of expertise, the positioning in the high-technology sector should be encouraged, as it boosts competitiveness in the regional and the national scale. Some of the traditional industrial sectors that ISI addresses (foods, textiles, woods) are growing whereas others (metals, agriculture) are receding but are still comparatively large to require specialized services from the Institute.

The region of Patras has developed considerably during the last few years, and the University together with the Institutes has encouraged investments in the region. Two large high technology plants (1 Greek, 1 US company) have been established during the last year in the region.

There are two other institutes in Greece with some similarity in activities:a) Institute of Microelectronics, in the NSCR Democritus Centre, Athens, andb) Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers, FORTH, Crete.

The evaluation committee retrieved the following information regarding the scope of the Institute of Microelectronics:

It was founded in 1989 Its mission includes research in microelectronics, applications in general industry, and training in

microelectronics.

Unfortunately there was no available detailed information on the Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers, apart from the fact that it is also over 10 years old.

From the limited information presented, we can draw the following conclusions: Some of the areas of research addressed by ISI are covered by more established institutes

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The ISI has potential to expand within its region (South-western Greece).

In the European perspective, the Institute may use the IFAC as a model for growth and best practices.


The management cannot be assessed in a meaningful manner since during the “seeding” phase:- The budget allocated so far has been minimal- There has been only 3 full-time personnel, 2 of which are administrative- The degree of independence from the University has been minimal

In fact the Institute’s management could only have been evaluated for Project Management effectiveness, for which the Committee had no data available.

2.3.3 Conclusions and Recommendations(a) RTD and Innovation activities of the Institute(b) The structure and the management pattern of the institute

Probably the most striking characteristic of the ISI RTD and innovation activities is the broadness of scope (large number of research areas). This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the ISI. The broadness allows more opportunity for error, thus letting external forces (market) and internal forces (scientific committee, researchers) interact during the initial phases rather than restricting the scope from the beginning. The challenge for the management is to establish the internal control mechanisms to be able to rationalize the scope from 12 areas to a more manageable 3-6 in the next 5 years.

Our recommendation to the management is to define a self-evaluation process based on measurable criteria (metrics) regarding:

- Market potential of undertaken research & development- Cost accounting and budgeting (per department, per project, per infrastructure item)

In its short life, and because of the overwhelming administrative focus on setting itself up, the Institute has not been able to realize fully the first of its primary goals, which is commercialisation and exploitation. Although prototypes have been developed, the financial results have not reflected the ISI’s potential. To achieve this goal a sound market orientation must be established.

The marketing strategy stated by the ISI was limited to establishing an Internet site with information about ISI and promotional material about its products. Our opinion is that this approach is following current trends, but is not sufficient on its own. The marketing process must be established in the organizational structure (e.g. with a Liaison Office) employing full time personnel that will:

- Collect and analyse market data for decision support- Compose the informational and promotional material- Actively promote the Institute in conferences, events, specialized press, newsletters.

Regarding the second primary goal, which is direct contracts with private and public industry, the situation is similar in the sense that the first few contracts with the private sector have been realized, but it is too early to judge how strategic these relationships are. Our recommendation to the management is to set a clear goal of a good balance between:

- one-off projects that bring short-term income and utilize resources but with no long-term benefits, and

- contracts that contain extension options, or establish regular income over time.

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Concluding, we foresee that the ISI must be funded to reach its critical mass consisting mainly of researchers, but augmented by a marketing and an accounting department. The last two will support the management to become more rigid and define strategy based on market and cost accounting data.

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2.4 Informatics and Telematics Institute – ITI

Preliminary comment

As we did not have the opportunity to visit the ITI site in Thessaloniki, our evaluation of the Institute is based on the documents we received from the General Secretariat for Research and Technology and the presentation by the Director of ITI and two of his associates.

2.4.1 General outlook

The Informatics and Telematics Institute was founded by a presidential decree in 1998 and it is a founding member of the Centre of Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) since March 1999.

The set-up of the infrastructure of the Institute was funded by the Greek Government with an initial start-up capital of 1,3 Million Euro for the period 1998-2001.

ITI was created in order to become a major research and development centre in Northern Greece with continuous interaction with the academic community, the National and European Informatics and Telematics Industry, the international scientific community and the Public Sector.

ITI already exhibits substantial research activity, both basic and industry-oriented, as well as technology transfer actions, in the following areas: Multimedia and Internet Technologies, Educational and Cultural Technologies, TeleMedicine Applications, New Media Representation and Access Standards and Methods, Digital and Interactive Television, Data Communications and Computer Networks.

The members of ITI have obtained considerable experience through their participation in a number European and National collaborative R&D projects. It should be noticed that, for most of these projects, they are coordinators. The record of publications is very impressive.

In terms of size, ITI has about 55 people, including two professors and two senior researchers. Most people are scientists and engineers under research training.



The institute is only one year old, but its Director has worked in the field since many years and we will consider his record as part of the existing institute as well as the research done.

Current research in ITI is focussed on multimedia with emphasis on 3D imaging and 3D video coding. The Institute is also very active in digital TV and MPEG-4-based projects. ITI has also started research in Virtual Reality with applications in the medical field. Moreover, there is an important activity in the area of educational technology with an emphasis on e-learning.

The publication record is very impressive (about 40 per year) with a large number of papers (about 12 per year) in excellent journals.

ITI is already partner in several EU projects and also financed by many Greek projects. Income from EU projects represents 25% of the total income. This is a remarkable aspect for a young institute.

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Although it is hard to quantify, it seems that at this stage the weight of research in the Institute is high compared to the weight of development. However, the trend now is to emphasize development activities.

The training of young researchers is very important, as the majority of personnel are scientists under research training. However, the consequence is that the Institute needs to have more senior researchers to train these young researchers.

The percentage of income from sales and services is rather low: 5% in 1999 and 5.8% anticipated for 2000. The Director of ITI expects to increase significantly the revenues from services to the private and the public sector in the near future (13% of income in 2002, 29% in 2004). He also wants to encourage actively researchers in starting and / or participating in spin-off companies. Although the Institute is too young to have developed a real strategy of product development, there are already a few nice pre-products. We can anticipate that there is a real potential commercial activity. In particular, the Databound software seems to be a nice integrated environment for creation of web content.

Although there is no formal network created with the participation of business firms and users, the institute has a lot of contacts and cooperations with Greek and international companies through projects.


Human potential

Personnel consist of about 55 people with a majority (about 40) of scientists and engineers under research training. There are two Professors including the Director of ITI, 2 researchers (grade C and D). The administrative staff is rather limited with 2 people.

The Institute can also take advantage of about 25 undergraduate students each year.

The lack of permanent staff could be a problem in the future with the high demand of people in the field.

Facilities

ITI is currently in a specific building. We did not have the possibility to evaluate the facilities, but the surface of the building (1300 Square meters) is good. Moreover, ITI will keep a rented apartment of 300 square meters with a network connection at 2 MBPS. In two years, ITI is supposed to move in a new building in the Technological Park in Thessaloniki.

Equipment

In terms of equipment, ITI has been funded by GSRT with 1.3 Meuro during its first 3 years (1998 – 2001).

The Basic Equipment consists of 55 PC (75 planned until end of 2000), 15 printers, scanners and various devices. The network infrastructure is also good with a 2Mbps-leased HDSL and a 100 Mbps switched LAN. For Image processing, digital cameras are available and there is also good audio/video processing hardware. The VR Infrastructure is at the top level with an Onyx II machine and most high-end VR devices (head-mounted display, cyber gloves, wireless tracker, 3D mouse, shuttle glasses). The Institute has also purchased various specialised software.

We can state that, at this time, the Institute is well equipped and this is a good asset for the Institute. However, it should be noticed that this type of equipment (e.g. VR equipment) becomes old very fast and the Institute should have an important budget to periodically update/replace the equipment.

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Equipment for Virtual Reality is probably under exploited at this stage, but the activity is new and good equipment in this area is a way of attracting young researchers. The Institute should consider the possibility of sharing time for its expensive hardware, which could be a source of revenue.


ITI is already well recognized in the multimedia field in general. In 3D and stereoscopy imaging and video coding, there is no competitor in Greece. At the European level, ITI is also a leader and among the best in the world. In other areas like multimedia communications, R & D activities are at the level of best institutions. We can also expect that ITI will become one of the best institutes in the very near future in other areas like Virtual and Augmented Reality, Education Technology and Wireless Telecommunications. These areas have an enormous potential of development and this should guarantee the effectiveness of ITI, its potential to put Greece on the map for these areas as well as its viability for the next few years.


The management seems to be very efficient and the use of resources appropriate. The Director of the Institute has a strong leadership and a lot of competence. The existing structure in terms of research units does not reflect the reality. Four units are described, but only one is active (Information Processing). A sub area Virtual Reality has already a lot of resources and EU projects, it should become a Research Unit in itself. The promising activity in Educational Technology should be reflected by a research unit. The management should be also more cautious in the future of the infrastructure expenses and periodically control these expenses versus the use of the resources.

2.4.3 Conclusions and Recommendations for:

(a) RTD and Innovation activities of the Institute

ITI should continue to be a leading institute in research in the areas of 3D and stereoscopy imaging and 3D coding

ITI should tend to become a leading institute in activities like VR and e-learning ITI should continue to produce excellent research publications in recognized journals and conferences. ITI should transform research results into innovative tools and services for the public and private

sector ITI should establish more close links with the Local, National and European Industry ITI should create spin-off companies to commercially exploit the research results of the Institute In the area of e-learning, ITI should consider cooperation with CETI in order to avoid duplication.


ITI should have a structure that really correspond to the research that is developed. This means that three research units should be clearly established:

Information processing (essentially image processing) Augmented and Virtual Reality Educational technology

New units can be forecasted, but it is better to have fewer numbers of strong units that some empty units.

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ITI management should be also more cautious in the future of the infrastructure expenses and periodically control these expenses versus the use of the resources.

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Part 3: Further Remarks

The evaluation team would like to thank the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development for the opportunity provided to know and to interact with the assigned research institutes. This opportunity has given us the possibility to meet very enthusiastic people and to cooperate with the Greek research system. This evaluation has also served to create links between different researchers in Europe and we really hope that our comments may serve to improve the performance of all the institutes and the associated personnel. The time spent in the different institutes has been a very rewarding experience for all of us. Special thanks goes to Ms. Xanthi Psiaki and her associated team for all the help provided and her enthusiasm towards her work in the General Secretariat for Research and Technology.

The evaluation team would like also to thank the very open and cooperative attitude of all the staff members of the institutes which have greatly facilitated the evaluation work. We are convinced that this open attitude is and will be the key of the success of the institutes in the future.

The evaluation team would like to state that the evaluation has been done under the Terms of Reference provided. Every effort has been made to have a fair attitude towards all the Institutes and to learn how the corresponding activities are taken place within the different boundary conditions of all the Institutes.

The evaluation team would like also to notice the different time allocated to each institute by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology. In particular, the Informatics and Telematics Institute, ITI, had only two hours and fifteen minutes, with no on site visit, to present its activities and to further discuss with the evaluation team. The Institute of Language and Speech Processing, ILSP had almost one and a half days to perform the same activities of presentation and discussion. The Industrial Systems Institute, ISI, and the Cultural and Educational Technology Institute, CETI, had approximately six hours each to present their activities. The evaluation team has tried to avoid any bias resulting from this difference.

Karin AnstoetzChristian Delcourt

Nikos SekourisDaniel Thalmann

Luis Torres

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