The ZIB was founded by law as a statutory establishment and as a non-university research institute of the State of Berlin in 1984.

In close interdisciplinary cooperation with the Berlin universities and scientific institutions Zuse Institute implements research and development in the field of information technology with a particular focus on application-oriented algorithmic mathematics and practical computer science.

ZIB also provides high-performance computer capacity as an accompanying service as part of the Network of high performance computers in Northern Germany (Norddeutscher Verbund von Hoch- und Höchstleistungsrechnern (HLRN)).

Unlike most commercial solvers, SCIP gives the user low-level control of and information about the solving process.

Prior versions of SCIP were distributed under a source-available license that allowed free academic use.