NETCOM Research Group

The kick-off meeting for the NOTRE research project, known under the full name “Network for Social Computing Research,” took place from the 8^th to 10^th of February 2016 at the Social Computing Research Center belonging to Cyprus University of Technology. As an important partner in the newly started project IMDEA Networks Institute was present during the whole event, participating in the general research discussion and planning and sharing its innovative ideas.

The NOTRE research project aims to develop a network that will strengthen and enhance the research and innovation potential and capability of the newly established Social Computing Research Centre (SCRC) at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), and thus stimulating scientific excellence and innovation capacity in the area of Social Computing.

For its implementation, the project brings together six partners from five countries: Social Computing Research Centre (SCRC) in Cyprus, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH-ICS) in Greece, Imdea Networks Institute and University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) in Spain, MIRALab from the Universite de Geneve (UNIGE) in Switzerland, and Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf (UDUS) in Germany. These partners, of solid reputation and experience in the European arena, will help SCRC to increase their presence in EU projects and activities. During the kickoff event all partners presented their institutions, personnel and aims and discussed the work plan and priorities to maximize the effectiveness of the NOTRE research project.

NOTRE proposes close network collaboration between SCRC of CUT and the five internationally-leading scientific institutions: IMDEA Networks Institute, FORTH-ICS, MIRALab, and UDUS, all specialized in different aspects of social computing such as (a) online social networks and their analysis, (b) entertainment, games, virtual reality and educational technologies, (c) Social Computing for social inclusion, and (d) Social Computing and social change. The establishment of such a network will boost the image of Cyprus as a research and innovation hub in the domain of Social Computing in Europe that is in relation to the Smart Specialization Strategy of Cyprus.

Professor Panayiotis Zaphiris, from the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of CUT, is the Project Coordinator on NOTRE. IMDEA Networks participates in NOTRE as a leading institution in the research and study of online social networks. The Madrid-based institute has led and participated in a long list of determining and cutting-edge research projects in the field of networks and social computing, like eCOUSIN, EINS, SOCAM, or iPAY, and is thus considered an important player in research areas such as social networks and future wireless internet.

The NOTRE project is funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Twinning programme - TWINN - 2015. The total project budget is of 1 million euros and the duration of the project is 3 years, starting in January 2016 and ending in December 2018.