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SOLV and KU Leuven launch strategic collaboration on social modeling

social modeling

Partnership

Strategic collaboration on social influence in decision-making

Leuven, 10 July 2025 – SOLV, provider of AI-driven software for complex decision-making and stakeholder processes, and KU Leuven have signed an exclusive licensing agreement and a joint R&D agreement with the research group Information Systems Engineering (LIRIS), led by Professor Monique Snoeck.

The collaboration grants SOLV the exclusive right to apply certain advanced influence modeling techniques, developed within the research team of Prof. Wouter Verbeke at KU Leuven, in its own platform. In addition, a joint research program will be established to further develop algorithmic influence scoring, using real-world cases and policy contexts.

Scientific Advancement and Valorization

LIRIS’s technology focuses on analyzing information flows and influence patterns within complex networks. Through the partnership with SOLV, this knowledge finds concrete application in projects related to permitting procedures, policy acceptance, and societal decision-making. The research insights will be integrated into the algorithmic core of SOLV’s platform and applied to real-life cases in areas such as infrastructure, mobility, and spatial planning.

A Unique Valorization Trajectory

““Stakeholder processes are networks of persuasion, timing, and context. By bringing our algorithms into SOLV’s practical environment, we can not only build better models, but also test how they handle real interests, tensions, and power dynamics.””

Prof. Dr. Wouter Verbeke

KU Leuven

““At SOLV, we already map the most complex decision-making processes—what this partnership adds is a scientific foundation that reaches into the very core of our algorithmic model. KU Leuven enables us to understand even more precisely how influence spreads, and that is of immense value for policymaking in a democratic context.””

Alexander D’Hooghe

Founder and CEO of SOLV

First Joint Research Project

The first joint research project focuses on developing “influence scoring” within social models, with attention to complexity, uncertainty, and context-sensitive adaptability. The results will be tested both in academic settings and in real-world policy practices.

About LIRIS (KU Leuven)

LIRIS (Research Centre for Information Systems Engineering) is a research center within the Faculty of Economics and Business at KU Leuven. It combines data-driven methods with architectural and design principles to design, analyze, and optimize decision-making, network impact, and information flows in complex systems.

About SOLV

SOLV is a full-stack AI company that develops technology to structure and guide decision-making processes in fields such as infrastructure, spatial planning, regional policy, organizational analysis, member-based organizations, and policy development. The platform maps stakeholders, values, actions, and scenarios, and supports strategy, risk analysis, and communication.

Contact

For more information, please contact

Roeline Ham, COO, Solv
📧 r.ham@solv.world
📞 +32 478 76 53 25

Wouter Verbeke, prof. dr., LIRIS
📧 wouter.verbeke@kuleuven.be
📞 +32 16 19 34 24