Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT) - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

What Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT) - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences does

The Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT-BAS) is a state-funded research institute within the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, headquartered at Acad. G. Bonchev St., Block 2, Sofia, Bulgaria. Established on July 1, 2010, IICT-BAS is the successor institute consolidating the Institute for Parallel Processing, Institute of Information Technologies, and Institute of Computer and Communication Systems. The institute employs 66 staff and operates as the primary national research body for ICT in Bulgaria, conducting fundamental and applied research across artificial intelligence and language technologies, cybersecurity, parallel algorithms, high-performance computing, intelligent systems, sensor data processing, and cyber-physical systems.

IICT-BAS operates research infrastructure that is unique within Bulgaria, including the National Center for High Performance and Distributed Computing (NCHDC) — the Bulgarian Supercomputer Center — and the Centre of Excellence in Informatics and ICT (CExICT), both funded under the EU Operational Programme 'Science and Education for Smart Growth' 2014-2020. The institute produces scientific journals (Cybernetics and Information Technologies; Problems of Engineering Cybernetics and Robotics), the IT4Sec research report series, dissertation abstract series, and a bilingual British-Bulgarian Cybersecurity Newsletter in partnership with the British Embassy in Sofia. It runs accredited PhD programmes, hosts international conferences (NM&A, IEEE Intelligent Systems, AIMSA), and operates the Secure Future 21 cybersecurity forum supported by NATO's Science for Peace and Security programme.

The institute's business model is non-commercial: it is funded through Bulgarian state budget allocations via the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Bulgarian National Science Fund (ФНИ), EU Operational Programmes, and bilateral international research collaborations. Customer engagement spans academic and research institutions (joint research, PhD training), government and public administration (cybersecurity capacity building, digital transformation consulting), and Bulgarian SMEs (cybersecurity awareness and GDPR-related guidance, particularly through the British-Bulgarian partnership). Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, and the institute has no commercial product distribution channel — outputs are scientific publications, research infrastructure services, and policy expertise rather than commercialized products.

Name

Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT) - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Legal name

Institute of Information and Communication Technologies - BAS (Институт по информационни и комуникационни технологии - БАН)

Website

https://iict.bas.bg

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (IICT-BAS) is a state-funded research institute within the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria, employing 66 staff. It conducts fundamental and applied ICT research spanning AI, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, and intelligent systems, and operates the Bulgarian Supercomputer Center, accredited PhD programmes, and the Secure Future 21 cybersecurity forum.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

ICT Research and Development Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Engineering & Technology Institutes (Comprehensive) (EDAHAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) & NERC-CIP Compliance (HDADAJAC), Penetration Testing, Red Team & Ethical Hacking (EDAOAIAH), Information Technology & Cybersecurity Certification Prep (CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft, AWS, ISC2/ISACA) (EDANAIAF)

Keywords

• ICT research services
• Cybersecurity research
• High performance computing
• Artificial intelligence research
• Scientific publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Sofia

HQ country

Bulgaria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IICT-BAS conducts fundamental and applied research in information and communication technologies, including artificial intelligence, language technologies, cybersecurity, parallel algorithms, HPC, cyber-physical systems, and intelligent systems. It delivers this through national scientific programmes, EU-funded research projects, PhD training, scientific journals, and operation of the Bulgarian national supercomputing infrastructure (NCHDC). The institute also provides expert services, patents, cybersecurity training, and open-access research publications.

Product overview

IICT-BAS is a research institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, not a commercial product company. Its portfolio consists of scientific publications and journals (Problems of Engineering Cybernetics and Robotics, Cybernetics and Information Technologies, IT4Sec Reports), a dissertation abstract series, and the Cybersecurity Newsletters published in partnership with the British Embassy. These are complemented by research infrastructure including the National Supercomputing Centre (NCVRP), the Centre of Excellence in Informatics and ICT (CExICT), and national scientific programmes on intelligent plant growing and intelligent animal husbandry. The institute also hosts the international Secure Future 21 cybersecurity forum. The institute's research capabilities span natural language processing, computer vision, predictive analytics, autonomous agents, optimization, process automation, knowledge retrieval, and anomaly detection across modalities including text, image, audio, video, structured data, and multimodal inputs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• National Center for High-Performance and Distributed Computing (NCHDC): Object from the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure, financed under program NPCNI 2017-2023
• Bulgarian Supercomputer Center
• IICT-BAS Cybersecurity Newsletters

Products and services

• Problems of Engineering Cybernetics and Robotics (PECR) Open-access scientific journal covering engineering cybernetics and robotics, indexed in Inspec and Google Scholar. Print ISSN 2738-7356 and Online ISSN 2738-7364. Targeted at the academic and engineering research community.
• Abstracts of Dissertations of IICT-BAS Electronic series presenting abstracts of Doctor of Sciences and PhD dissertations defended at IICT-BAS, covering computer networks, parallel algorithms, scientific computations, intelligent systems, signal processing, cybersecurity, and communication systems. e-ISSN 1314-6351.
• Cybersecurity Newsletters (British-Bulgarian Partnership) Online bilingual newsletter (English and Bulgarian) published with the British Embassy Sofia, sharing cybersecurity information with focus on Bulgarian businesses and UK best practices. ISSN 2738-7097.
• Cybernetics and Information Technologies (CIT) Scientific journal published by IICT-BAS covering cybernetics and information technologies, serving the academic research community.
• National Centre for High Performance and Distributed Computing (NCHDC) National supercomputing centre providing high-performance computing infrastructure for computer modelling, simulations, and research across industry, medicine, pharmaceuticals, energy, transport, finance, and environment. Provides access to HPC resources to Bulgarian researchers and institutions.
• Centre of Excellence in Informatics and ICT (CExICT) Centre of excellence established under Operational Programme 'Science and Education for Smart Growth' 2014-2020, focused on informatics and ICT research excellence. Contract BG05M2OP001-1.001-0003.
• IT4Sec Reports Research and analytical reports published by IICT-BAS covering information technology for security, cybersecurity policy, and digital transformation for institutional and government audiences.
• Secure Future 21 Initiative Global research forum supported by NATO's Science for Peace and Security programme, combining scientific and educational efforts in cybersecurity and digital resilience with partner support from nearly 50 countries across five continents. Hosted by IICT-BAS.
• Accredited PhD Programmes in ICT Accredited doctoral programmes (PhD and Doctor of Sciences) in ICT disciplines, delivered at IICT-BAS under the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences framework, targeting researchers and graduate students.
• Expert Services, Patents and Utility Models Expert services including inspection body functions, patent and utility model registration support, and professional training courses offered to industry and government clients.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability14 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and moderate.

• Union for Private Economic Initiative (SSI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Memorandum of cooperation signed in 2020 between IICT-BAS and SSI (national employers' organization). Joint objective to facilitate secure digitalization of Bulgarian SMEs and organizations. SSI represents micro, small and medium enterprises and has been active member of European Cyber Security Organization since 2019.
• British Embassy in SofiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership for British-Bulgarian Cybersecurity for SME and Organizations initiative. Newsletter published in English and Bulgarian on official websites of IICT-BAS and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, distributed to British Embassy contact networks. Project joins efforts of UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN), Defense and Security partnership teams.
• ECHO (European Cyber Security Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerECHO network includes 30 partners from different domains including healthcare, transport, manufacturing, ICT, education, research, telecommunications, energy, space, defense and civil protection. Project aims to strengthen proactive cyber defence of the EU and European technological sovereignty through effective multi-sector cooperation.
• CyberSec4Europe (CS4E)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium of 43 partners covering 14 key cybersecurity areas, 11 technology/application elements and nine key vertical sectors. Works on harmonizing software component development for cybersecurity requirements.
• CONCORDIA (Cybersecurity Research and Innovation)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium of 46 partners representing leading universities, enterprises, public bodies and organizations. Aims to lead integration of European cybersecurity expertise into expert knowledge network for building secure, resilient and reliable ecosystem.
• SPARTA (Cybersecurity Research Programme)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium of 44 partners from different areas and sectors. Mission to rethink how cybersecurity research, innovation and training is conducted in Europe. Implements four main programmes: T-SHARK, CAPE, HAII-T, SAFAIR.
• European Software Institute - Center Eastern Europe (ESI CEE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in cybersecurity cooperation agreement, part of editorial board for cybersecurity newsletter. ESI CEE provides expertise in software security and industry collaboration.
• Defence Institute at Ministry of Defence (DI-MO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBulgarian Defense Institute is partner in cybersecurity editorial board and joint initiatives. Contributes to national cybersecurity policy development and SME/organization support.
• National Center for High Performance and Distributed Computing (NCHDC)coreTechnology or IntegrationNCHDC is part of the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure, funded under programme NPСNI 2017-2023. Operates Bulgarian supercomputer center providing HPC infrastructure for modeling, simulations and research.
• ICT Center of BAScoreTechnology or IntegrationCenter for Excellence in Informatics and ICT funded under Operational Programme 'Science and Education for Smart Growth' 2014-2020. Contract BG05M2OP001-1.001-0003. Project leader: Corresponding Member Dr. Sc. Svetozar Dimitrov Margenov.
• Digital Economy in Big Data Environment (DigEcBigData)coreTechnology or IntegrationCompetence Center funded under Operational Programme 'Science and Education for Smart Growth'. Project leader: Prof. Dr. Sc. Stati Vasilev Statev. Focus on digitization of economy in big data environment.
• SecuredFuture21 InitiativemoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal research forum combining scientific and educational efforts in expert community with partner support from nearly 50 countries across five continents. Formed in 2017 with NATO Science for Peace and Security programme support.

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Max Planck Institute for Informatics: Germany's leading computer science research institute under the Max Planck Society, covering algorithms, computer vision, and systems research. Comparable as a publicly funded ICT research institute with PhD programmes and a broad multidisciplinary research portfolio.
• INRIA (French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology): France's primary national computer science and applied mathematics research institute. Directly comparable as a publicly funded ICT research organization running PhD programmes, operating HPC infrastructure, and participating in EU cybersecurity and AI initiatives at a similar institutional scale.
• CERTH / Information Technologies Institute (ITI): Greek Centre for Research and Technology Hellas — ITI is a fellow Southeast European applied ICT research institute with comparable activities in AI, computer vision, cybersecurity, and participation in EU-funded projects. The closest geographic and functional peer to IICT-BAS.
• Fraunhofer AISEC (Institute for Applied and Integrated Security): German Fraunhofer cybersecurity research institute conducting applied research in hardware security, secure software, and threat analysis with industry partnerships. Comparable to IICT's cybersecurity research thrust and practitioner training activities.
• CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica): Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science, part of the Netherlands Academy of Sciences. Comparable publicly funded multidisciplinary ICT research organization with PhD programme and applied research focus.
• Joanneum Research (Austria): Austrian non-profit applied research organization with institutes covering digital, materials, and resources research. Comparable as a publicly co-funded multidisciplinary ICT and applied research institution.
• Czech Academy of Sciences — Institute of Computer Science: Czech Academy computer science institute. Similar CEE academy-of-sciences ICT research organization with applied research and graduate-level training.
• Cybernetica (Estonia): Estonian applied research institute focused on cybersecurity, e-governance, and critical infrastructure protection. Comparable to IICT's cybersecurity research and SME capacity-building activities in a small EU member state.
• Slovak Academy of Sciences — Institute of Informatics: Slovak Academy of Sciences computer science institute. Very close structural peer — small-to-mid sized CEE academy ICT institute with parallel algorithms, AI, and applied research focus and PhD programmes.
• Polish Academy of Sciences — Institute of Computer Science: Polish Academy of Sciences computer science institute. Direct structural peer as another Central European academy-of-sciences ICT institute conducting multidisciplinary computer science research.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/iict-bas-bg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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