This week, Gate.31 met with the Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technologies, better known as ‘CETIC’.
The modern building that houses the applied ICT research centre is located on the Aeropole Campus in Charleroi. It includes offices, demonstration areas, laboratories, and an auditorium dedicated to conferences.
We have an appointment with Damien Hubaux, the Director of CETIC.
In a few words, how would you describe CETIC’s mission today?
In a nutshell, CETIC’s mission is to share its digital and technological expertise to help local companies grow faster. Today, we’re involved in both regional and European projects.
What major technological changes have shaped the past 20 years?
CETIC was founded around the year 2000 – right when the dot-com bubble burst. Far from signaling the end of an era, that moment marked the beginning of an incredible acceleration in digital technologies. In just twenty years, digital has transformed every sector, without exception. Today, everything is digital – blueprints, texts, images… And once everything goes digital, the possibilities are endless!
Another huge shift has been connectivity. The tools that surround us – in our companies, our factories – are now all connected and communicating in real time. This constant interconnection is reshaping the way we work, produce, and innovate, and it’s bringing a whole new set of challenges along with it.
CETIC at the heart of digital innovation
The research centre focuses its expertise on several key innovation themes: autonomous systems, artificial intelligences, and cybersecurity.
Our teams support businesses through a wide range of services – from designing complex software to securing applications, managing data, and implementing MLOps (Machine Learning Operations). We also work on integrating generative AI, ensuring interoperability of embedded systems, and more broadly, driving digital transformation and modernizing IT infrastructures.
As a research centre in computer science, we follow a rigorous scientific approach and explore issues that are often complex – sometimes even completely new. In practical terms, our researchers design, develop, test, and validate innovative technological solutions.
We’re especially proud when our innovations are successfully transferred to a company and integrated into its processes – boosting its operational efficiency and competitiveness! – Damien Hubaux
Can you give us one or two examples of collaboration between CETIC and a company?
Of course! One particularly interesting example involves the industrial use of data processing. For Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Europe, a Belgium-based company specializing in aircraft tire repair and retreading, CETIC developed an AI-powered application. This solution helps operators identify and recognize tire defects more quickly and reliably.
It’s fascinating to see that an AI-based solution can now assist an expert with decades of experience in detecting defects in an industrial environment! – Damien Hubaux
Providing this kind of solution enables industrial players to save valuable time and improve the safety of their products.
Another example involves route optimization – that is, the methods and tools used to determine the best routes or itineraries while taking multiple constraints and objectives into account.
Thanks to this expertise, CETIC was called upon to define air routes! Even though the constraints are different, this experience could, for instance, be applied to optimizing drone traffic.
Through a simple API, RoutaR provides an optimal solution in just moments. Image ©️CETIC
It’s a great illustration of how certain technological developments can be extrapolated from one sector to another, no matter how complex they are.
In your opinion, what will be the major digital challenges for companies in the coming years?
I don’t have a crystal ball (he smiles), but I would definitely mention artificial intelligence. While it will take time to fully understand its strengths and limitations, one thing is certain: the arrival of all these AI assistants will have a major impact on our lives and work.
Furthermore, once everything is connected, cybersecurity becomes unavoidable.
As for the rest, each company evolves at its own pace. There’s no shame in digital transformation being more or less advanced depending on the organization. The real problem, however, would be not to move at all…
Final words?
The doors of CETIC are always open, and I encourage all companies – from SMEs to large enterprises – to reach out to us.
CETIC is here to listen! Share your needs with us. Our teams provide proven solutions or, alongside you, develop tailor-made technological solutions – Damien Hubaux
