GŁÓWNY INSTYTUT GÓRNICTWA – PAŃSTWOWY INSTYTUT BADAWCZY (GIG-PIB)
The Central Mining Institute (Główny Instytut Górnictwa, GIG) is a prominent research and development organization based in Poland, focusing on the mining and energy sectors. With a rich history dating back to 1945, GIG is dedicated to conducting research, providing expertise, and developing innovative solutions to address various challenges faced by the mining industry. Its activities encompass a wide range of areas, including mine safety, environmental protection, geology, geotechnology, and renewable energy. Through collaboration with industry partners, government agencies, and academic institutions, GIG plays a vital role in advancing technology, promoting sustainable practices, and supporting the growth and competitiveness of the mining sector in Poland and beyond.
UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO (UNIOVI)
The University of Oviedo, established in 1608, stands as a significant and historic institution in Spain’s academic landscape. Located in the Asturias region, it has played a pivotal role in fostering education, research, and cultural development. With a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs, the university caters to a wide spectrum of academic fields, from the humanities and social sciences to engineering and health sciences. It’s renowned for its research contributions, particularly in the fields of mining, biotechnology, medicine, and environmental science. The University of Oviedo is not only central to the educational advancement in Northern Spain but also actively participates in international collaborations, enhancing its global footprint. Its commitment to excellence in education, research, and innovation makes it an important institution for students, scholars, and researchers worldwide.
It also has a solid track record of collaboration with the largest coal company in Spain, the state-owned Hulleras del Norte, S.A. (HUNOSA), and experience in RFCS projects such as MERIDA (Management of environmental risks during and after mine closure) 2015-2019, RECOVERY (Recovery of degraded and transformed ecosystems in coal mining-affected areas) 2019-2023, DD-MET 2019-2023, and POTENTIALS 2021-2023, as well as in other European research programmes such as H2020, F.P., LIFE, and others.
SATEC Group (SATEC) is a Spanish multinational founded in 1988. For more than 35 years, it has consolidated a comprehensive offering as a provider of technological solutions and services, specialising in ICT solutions for clients mainly in the mining sector to improve key aspects of their lives, such as efficiency, productivity, or security.
SATEC group has a workforce of over 1500 workers, distributed among its main company, Sistemas Avanzados de Tecnología LTD, additional companies that complement its value proposition in Spain (Satec Enhanced Services, Satec Hub, and Interhost), and branch offices in countries such as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Ivory Coast.
The portfolio of engineering solutions and services of SATEC Group is structured around the following four pillars: (1) Consultancy: Provision of Professional Services for adopting enabling technologies for transformation. Design of advanced information and communication technology architecture, information security and good governance. (2) Development of technological solutions: Design, implementation and integration of communication solutions, data processing services, monitoring and automatisation applications, management and exploitation of data, and business processes operation support. (3) Support, operation and maintenance: Support, monitoring, delegated administration and IT infrastructure management in on-premise, cloud or hybrid environments, with particular attention to information security aspects provided by CyberSOC operations centre, and (4) SATEC 4.0: Application of solutions in the fields of Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), applied to both the business (IT) and the mining sectors.
The University of Burgos leads the Applied Computational Intelligence research group and gathers a wide range of researchers interested mainly in the development of tools based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). That is, it approaches AI from an application standpoint. This research group is multidisciplinary and has strong national and international connections. Previous work by this group has an eminently practical component, addressing several real-life problems in various application fields.
The main strengths of the Research Group are (1) Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems, with broad experience in applying such systems to many different fields: network security, industrial optimisation, knowledge management, and health systems. On the other hand, the group organises one of the leading conferences on this topic: the International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems; (2) Artificial Neural Networks, differentiating from other research units as it mainly works on unsupervised neural models, that can be applied to dimensionality reduction and hence, provide intuitive visualisations of high-complex data, to ease their analysis and understanding; (3) Intrusion Detection Systems, applying neural projection models to visualise network packet data intuitively. The main idea is to generate informative visualisations of network traffic as complementary to other techniques applied to Intrusion Detection (such as rule-based, machine learning, etc.); and (4) Knowledge Management, where computer tools are lacking to support decision-making processes. In conjunction with experts in the field, GICAP has developed solutions to automatise the analysis of KM data to help KM managers.
INSEMEX is the acronym of “Institutul National de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Securitate Miniera si Protectie Antiexploziva.” It is a state-owned Research Institution based in Petrosani, Romania. It was founded in 1949 as a testing station for mining safety, researching the safety of explosions in the mining industry, later in the oil and gas extractive industry, and in the petrochemical industry.
Since 2006, INSEMEX has been reorganized and has operated as the National Institute for Research and Development. It performs basic and applied research, technological development, and technical solutions in regulated fields for public interest regarding risk assessment and prevention in activities endangered by explosive and toxic atmosphere hazards.
With its headquarters in Petrosani (Jiu Valley—one of the oldest hard coal mining fields in Romania), INSEMEX has proven institutional experience concerning the safety of mineral resources (operating technologies, underground fire-fighting technologies, etc.), mining ventilation, classification of underground works in terms of gas emissions, or preventing and fighting against gas emissions and/or accumulations.
INSEMEX performs research in the following directions: explosion protection, explosives and blasting techniques, safety of equipment and facilities, safety of mineral resources, environmental protection, mining and industrial ventilation, classification of underground works in terms of gas releases, rescue operations in toxic/explosive/flammable atmospheres.
Grupo DEX—Desarrollo de Estrategias Exteriores SA (DEX) is an international consultancy firm specialized in European affairs, strategic planning, local development, and international economic and institutional relations. Grupo DEX supports the preparation, management and evaluation of European programmes and projects, provides strategic consultancy services to private and public organisations, and manages R&D, Innovation and Technology Transfer projects.
DEX has participated in the different phases of generation, evaluation and management of European projects in the framework of various programmes and initiatives by European Funds; they have prepared documents for local and regional entities in different fields ranging from the revitalisation of urban areas, development of rural areas, support for the creation of companies, to strategies for tourism development, museums and other cultural infrastructures, through projects of economic viability and financing of infrastructures and transport systems or impact on protected areas.
An umbrella organisation of the European coal industry, EURACOAL,s mission is to highlight the importance of coal to security of energy supply, energy price stability, economic added value, environmental protection and climate goals. EURACOAL seeks to be an active communicator, with the aim of creating an appropriate framework within which the European coal industry and coal consumers can operate. Its activities include:
– Advocacy and Representation: Euracoal represents coal and lignite producers at the European Union level, engaging with EU institutions, policymakers, and stakeholders to influence legislation and energy policies.
– Policy Analysis and Information: It monitors EU energy, climate, and environmental policies, providing its members with analysis, updates, and forecasts on regulations affecting the coal and lignite industry.
– Promotion of Coal and Lignite: Euracoal highlights the role of coal and lignite in Europe’s energy mix, particularly regarding energy security, affordability, and supply diversity.
– Research and Data: The association collects and publishes statistics, reports, and studies on coal and lignite production, consumption, markets, and technological developments.
– Networking and Cooperation: It brings together companies, national associations, and experts from across Europe to exchange knowledge and coordinate on common issues.
Sustainable Transition: While defending the coal sector, Euracoal also participates in discussions about cleaner coal technologies (like carbon capture and storage) and the challenges of the energy transition.