INESC Coimbra is a non-profit, public utility institution, devoted to scientific research and technological development. It is an interdisciplinary R&D institute encompassing management science and electrical engineering, but also systems eng., civil eng., information systems and mathematics. INESCC ́s activities combine theory and methodology, technical issues and human factors to tackle complex problems mainly in the areas of energy, telecommunications, regional and urban planning, spatial planning, geomatics and computational mechanics. Innovative models and algorithms are developed as the basis of applied research. INESCC’s strategic objectives are: - To contribute to the progress of scientific and technical knowledge and to design better systems and informed decision processes. - To support the first stages of the value generation chain: basic and applied research, and advanced education. 
- To transfer knowledge and provide scientific and technical support to public and private organizations. 
- To contribute to better planning and decision making processes with impact on society. - To raise public awareness of research and technologies for improving planning, efficient use of resources and sustainable development. 
The accomplishment of these objectives has been materialized by carrying out top-level R&D integrative and interdisciplinary research with impact on publications in scientific journals, projects, contracts with industry and international cooperation.