"The Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (FMI) of Sofia University (SU) has developed in the last decades as a centre of excellence in Bulgaria in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) research and higher education, where contacts with leading EU research institutions have been established. The main goal of SISTER project is to develop FMI as a Leading Centre in SEE in research, innovation and training in two areas of ICT - Intelligent Content and Semantics, Software and Services. An overall goal of the project is to foster the integration of FMI in the ICT ERA and to contribute to competitiveness and growth of the SEE region and Europe as a whole. In order to achieve the main goal the following project objectives are defined:  to elaborate a strategic framework for FMI future development;  to strengthen the research capacity of FMI by enhancing the human resources capabilities of FMI and research integration with EU partners;  to strengthen the capacity of FMI for business exploitation of academic results and cooperation with industry  to improve the research environment of FMI;  to build a strong long-term collaboration of FMI with leading research organisations and enterprises in EU and in SEE countries;  to make FMI a well-known research and innovation centre in SEE. The project is targeted to support the present research collaboration of FMI in the four ICT strategic areas, where a certain integration into EU research already exists, however, it is still at an early stage and needs to be strengthened for buildinga long-term strategic partnership with leading EU research and industrial organisations."