Mission

The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute create information technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges.

History

In 2000, the California Governor’s office launched four visionary Institutes for Science and Innovation. The state of California, University of California, and hundreds of leading businesses joined together in an unprecedented partnership to lay the foundation for California’s future economic and social development.

CITRIS was created in 2001 as one of four interdisciplinary institutes for science and innovation at the University of California by the California state legislature to shorten the pipeline between world-class laboratory research and the development of applications, platforms, companies, and even new industries.

In 2016, the institute was renamed to CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, in recognition of Dado and Mary Banatao’s early commitment to CITRIS and their ongoing leadership.