Intensive collaboration with other research institutions of outstanding merit is a key prerequisite for ensuring ongoing excellence in an institution's performance. The IAO’s skills profile is particularly enhanced by its tightly-meshed links with other Fraunhofer institutes, which is one of the reasons we are associated with organizations such as the Fraunhofer Information and Communication Technology Group, which is the largest ICT research group in Europe. We also have close connections to the institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft that focus on production engineering. For example, the Fraunhofer IAO has successfully collaborated with the Fraunhofer IPA plus a current total of more than 30 business partners to establish the Digital Production innovation cluster.

Institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft with their various areas of expertise also cooperate within the scope of Fraunhofer alliances and networks, where they join forces to develop and promote new, innovative research topics.

The IAO is involved in the following alliances and networks:

• Fraunhofer Ambient Assisted Living Alliance
• Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance
• Fraunhofer eGovernment Center
• Fraunhofer Grid Computing Alliance
• Fraunhofer Nanotechnology Alliance
• Fraunhofer Traffic and Transportation Alliance

The Fraunhofer IAO is also actively involved in numerous other networks. Thanks to its intensive collaboration with other research institutions and the organizations represented within the networks, it succeeds in promoting both scientifically-oriented research and applied implementation of new instruments and methods in workplace practices. The following list shows some selected examples of the networks in which the Fraunhofer IAO is actively engaged:

• Berliner Kreis - Wirtschaftliches Forum für Produktentwicklung e.V. (competence network that aims to enhance product innovation)
• German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
• European Association for REsearch on SERvices (RESER)
• Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft (GfA; promotes scientific and professional issues relating to ergonomics/human factors)
• Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI; non-profit informatics organization)
• Hochschullehrergruppe Arbeits- und Betriebsorganisation H.A.B. e.V. (university professors’ group focused on work and company organization)
• International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP)
• International Foundation of Production Research (IFPR)
• Institute for Innovation and Information Productivity
• Service Research and Innovation Institute (SRII)
• German Academic Society for Production Engineering (WGP)