Dynatrace and the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) are coming together with a vision in mind to create a joint co-innovation research lab at the Linz Institute of Technology (LIT). The collaboration between business and academia aims to drive application-oriented base-knowledge research in the field of software intelligence forward, turning Austria into a ‘hotspot’ in digitization research.

JKU Vice-Rector Christopher Lindinger considers this ‘meeting of the minds’ to be one of the Co-Innovation Lab’s key tasks: "When it comes to cooperation in research between universities and companies such as Dynatrace, the Co-Innovation Lab is an outstanding role model. The LIT Open Innovation Center at the JKU is ideal for this type of venture as it is not only a crossing point between academia and business, but also provides the drive and momentum needed to further develop this region as a location of business. The JKU conducts outstanding research in the field of IT security, Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, and big data, representing a valuable enrichment to application-oriented product development."

Alois Reitbauer, Chief Technology Strategist at Dynatrace, maintains: "The digital convenience we value so much when shopping, making purchases, traveling, parking, and when doing our banking is a one-way street and the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly increased the frequency." At the Co-Innovation Lab at the Linz Institute of Technology (LIT), the spiral of complexity and growing volumes of data are becoming a central research topic. Andreas Hametner, Lab Director at Dynatrace, stresses that not being involved in short-term and medium-term product development provides an opportunity to collaborate closely with the academic research community and not be subject to economic pressure. He added: "Here at the Co-Innovation Lab, we can pursue and support exciting research approaches, especially those in which we cannot yet estimate the potential."

Univ. Prof. Rick Rabiser, head of the LIT Cyber-Physical Systems Lab and Hametner's academic counterpart at the Co-Innovation Lab, appreciates "… the opportunity the Co-Innovation Lab provides in an effort to establish a new kind of transdisciplinary, scientific research between industry and the university. Both partners, the JKU and Dynatrace, bring different strengths to the table. University research, motivated by real-world challenges, has been a successful model at the JKU for many years, particularly in the field of software engineering. The Co-Innovation Lab will enable the JKU to further expand on these strengths and evaluate research methods based on real data. Dynatrace benefits as they have closer accessibility to the academic research landscape which can create both scientific foundations as well as serve as an impetus to find innovative solutions."