About Us

The BISCI expertise and innovation centre started its operations in 2019. It is a part of the 'ecosystem' of Brightlands Greenport Campus Venlo, in which the business community, academics, students and representatives from various governments work together through open innovation and co-creation.

In this way, BISCI contributes directly to the innovation and competitiveness of individual companies and organisations in various sectors and helps strengthen the region’s economic infrastructure.

BISCI was set up by Maastricht University and Limburg province to help boost the regional economy.
  • Tapijnkazerne, UM, Maastricht
    Brightlands Campus Greenport, Venlo
    Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, Maastricht

  • “Developing and realising state-of-the-art smart and sustainable supply chain innovations by orchestrating resources and expertise from knowledge institutions, industry and government and such leading knowledge center for digital and sustainable supply chains to be with an international image and a great economic added value for the province of Limburg and beyond”

  • A Brightlands institute

    Brightlands is an open innovation community in a global context, connecting four campuses in the province of Limburg: in Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen and Venlo. The campuses provide entrepreneurs, scientists and students state-of-the-art facilities to support development, education, innovation and growth. Naturally, there are close links between all four Brightlands campuses, and together they enable Limburg to serve as an innovation region where researchers and entrepreneurs take on the major challenges in the areas of materials, health, food and smart services.

    Research

    BISCI is closely linked to the department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management of the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics. The department offers an established team of scholars and an existing infrastructure that facilitates high-quality research relevant to industry. BISCI also hold strong links to people and the expertise of several units at UM such as MSI, DAD, DKE, BISS etc.

    The “triple bottom line” is a key concept within smart and sustainable supply chain management. It holds that organisations should commit to focus on social and environmental concerns, just as they do on economic gains. For every company, there should be a harmonious balance between "profit, people, and the planet" to obtain long term value creation and corporate social responsibility.

    Research at BISCI is driven by new technological developments, the use of digitalisation and big data, the scarcity of resources and the role of people within the supply chain.

    Education

    Currently, BISCI is connected to two MSc programmes in Supply Chain Management:

    • Global Supply Chain Management and Change (in Venlo)
    • International Business / Supply Chain Management (in Maastricht)

    Market

    In order to operationalise the market need, BISCI has identified five 'ecosystems', each with their own dynamics and character. These ecosystems have a number of common features:

    • They fit in with relevant 'digitisation' and/or 'sustainability' themes;
    • They are located in the 'triple helix', following on from already developed relationships with companies/organisations;
    • They are connected to Brightlands campuses and to BISCI partners UM, Fontys and/or TNO.

    Reinforcing research, market & education capabilities:

    • BISCI delivers Research Impact through its research agenda to strengthen existing knowledge bases and to develop new knowledge
    • Our Research Impact feeds our Education, aiming to improve our education programmes, building on tacit knowledge from Market Impact
    • Our Education Impact uses this Research to create new modules, programmes for students and other stakeholders alike
    • Our Market Impact uses Education as a tool in making impact
    • Our Market Impact uses Research to provide valuable knowledge and insights for stakeholders