Social Innovation: Relevant Part of Technological Development

The SI-DRIVE concept of Social Innovation as part of a new innovation paradigm was integrated in the HORIZON 2020 – SPIRE project COCOP: Coordinating Optimisation of Complex Industrial Processes. COCOP is a first trial to combine technological development with a social innovation process of co-creation and co-development for improving effectiveness and impact of the innovations and operators acceptance. Complex process industry plants will be optimally run by the operators with the guidance of a coordinating, real-time optimisation system. Therefore a plant-wide monitoring and control system is enabled by using the model-based, predictive, coordinating optimisation concept in integration with local control systems. Operators will understand the functioning of the plant as a whole, including the areas traditionally beyond their control, and take better decisions within their part of the process.