CISC SEMICONDUCTOR GMBH

Their core work

CISC Semiconductor is an Austrian SME specializing in semiconductor design, verification, and testing for safety-critical embedded systems. They provide IP cores, design services, and verification solutions for automotive, drone, and IoT applications where reliability and security are non-negotiable. Their work spans from GaN power semiconductor packaging to AI-enabled trustworthy computing architectures, bridging the gap between chip-level design and system-level safety assurance.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CISC's early H2020 work (2015–2018) centered on power semiconductor manufacturing — GaN pilot lines, packaging research, and Industrial Internet digitization. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward AI-driven safety and trust in cyber-physical systems: explainable AI, trustable computing, resilient drone architectures, and distributed safety-critical solutions. This evolution shows a company moving up the stack from hardware components to intelligent, secure system architectures.

CISC is positioning itself at the intersection of AI trustworthiness and safety-critical embedded systems — expect future work in certified AI for autonomous vehicles, drones, and energy infrastructure.

How they like to work

CISC operates exclusively as a participant, never as a coordinator, which is typical for a specialist SME contributing deep technical expertise to large consortia. With 398 unique partners across 30 countries, they have an unusually broad network for their size, suggesting they are a sought-after contributor rather than a repeat-partner loyalist. Their consistent presence in ECSEL and large Innovation Action projects (averaging 30+ partners per consortium) indicates they are comfortable operating in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

With 398 unique consortium partners across 30 countries, CISC has one of the broadest collaboration networks among Austrian semiconductor SMEs. Their partnerships span the full European electronics and automotive ecosystem, with particularly strong ties to the ECSEL Joint Undertaking community.

What sets them apart

CISC occupies a rare niche: a small semiconductor company that understands both chip-level verification and system-level safety assurance for AI-driven applications. While large semiconductor firms focus on volume production, CISC brings specialized verification and IP expertise that de-risks safety-critical designs. For consortium builders, they offer a proven track record in 12 H2020 projects with the agility and focus that only an SME can provide.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STEVE
  Largest single EC contribution (€373K) — electric vehicle demonstration combining CISC's embedded systems expertise with real-world urban mobility use cases.
• InSecTT
  Captures CISC's strategic pivot toward trustworthy AI, covering explainable AI, interoperability, and cross-domain security in IoT — a roadmap of their future direction.
• TRANSACT
  Their most recent project, focused on transforming safety-critical systems into distributed architectures — signals where CISC is heading next.