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The Internet of Things

As a small, but highly technologically advanced nation, Ireland has the perfect collaborative environment for the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem to thrive. Indeed, Ireland has become the natural choice for companies looking to develop their IoT products and services.

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TRACK RECORD

Ireland has the perfect mix of industry, people and processes to allow companies developing IoT products and services to collect, connect and transform data.

Collect

A critical element behind IoT products and services is the collection of data, requiring a location with world-class competence in semiconductors, actuators and microelectronics. Ireland has a long and successful industrial heritage in semiconductor and microelectronics, and has earned a reputation for quality and innovation. Indeed, the Quark chip, Intel’s IoT chip, was designed in Ireland demonstrating we have the knowledge, talent and skill here to produce a globally recognised chip and board specifically for IoT.

Connect

Once data is collected it needs to be transported to a data centre or data base. Ireland is not only well connected, with the 7^th fastest broadband speeds in the world, but is also affordable and innovative. Ireland is also now one of the world’s premier locations for data centres thanks to its ideal air-cooling climate. It also provides the option to test and trial access to the radio spectrum, while Vodafone’s M2M technology in Ireland is powering connected solutions in everything from airlines to powerfeed.

Transform

Once data has been collected and connected it must be analysed. This is where value is uncovered, discovered or predicted – generating competitive advantages for all industries. Ireland boasts many well-established Data Analytic centres, such as those established by Accenture, AON, SAS and SAP. It is also home to Insight, the largest publically funded Data Analytics research centre in Europe.

KEY ACTIVITIES

There are many projects and developments taking place in Ireland that are empowering companies to use IoT to reshape consumer and industrial environments.

Our Internet of Things Infographic

Supporting Start-Ups

PCH, founded by Irishman Liam Casey, supports IoT start-ups in Ireland through its Highway1 incubator and PCH Access programme. It has helped to generate a hub of innovative and successful Irish start-ups like Drop, an iPad connected baking device, and LumaFit, the world’s first wearable fitness tracker for body and mind.

Research

In Ireland, 60% of technical staff has a doctorate degree in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics or a related field. It is this talent pool that has attracted the likes of IBM Research, which established its Ireland Lab in 2010. It is one of only nine IBM research laboratories located outside of the United States. R&D projects being executed today are in areas such as Energy, City Fabric, Transport and High-Performance Computing.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive Analytics is one of the most exciting next-generation technologies. Companies, such as SAP, which has R&D operations in Ireland, are spearheading advancements in this area by placing Ireland at the heart of driving global innovation and development.

Machine To Machine

Machine To Machine (M2M) uses technology to streamline the way data is collected from physical devices and incorporated into IT systems. Vodafone has developed this technology to remove unnecessary and costly manual people-driven processes. M2M is perfect for fleet and asset management, coverage for remote regions and overseas metering and monitoring, and rapid response systems security and surveillance.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Ireland has developed a thriving and dynamic IoT research ecosystem. This is industry-led and ensures Ireland is a global centre for groundbreaking advancements in IoT.

Smart Sensors

Researchers at the Tyndall National Institute have worked with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to develop a smart-sensor glove designed to help improve trainee surgeons’ skills at stitching and other tasks needing intricate finger work, which is undergoing final trialling and data collection.

Materials Research

Amber is the Science Foundation Ireland funded materials science centre headquartered at Trinity College Dublin. It recently has developed a new method of producing industrial quantities of high quality graphene .

Networks

With expertise in wireless networking, optical networking, cognitive networks, dynamic spectrum access networks, machine-learning, advanced optimisation and game theory, Connect works in partnership with six academic institutions in Ireland (NUIM, UL, UCC, Tyndall, DIT and DCU) and collaborates with over 60 companies.

ICT

TSSG is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for ICT research and innovation. Its four key prioritised technical research areas include Mobile Platforms and Services, Security Privacy and Identity, Data Analytics and Social computing, and Adaptive Networks and services.

Analysis

Adapt research focuses on analysing media, content and customer interactions to enhance communication, customer engagement and satisfaction. Its research aims to enhance the user experience through enabling innovative customer engagement across multimodal media (speech, video, image, text).

Cutting-Edge Research

Insight brings together leading Irish academics from five of Ireland's leading research centres (DERI, CLARITY, CLIQUE, 4C, TRIL). Its key areas of priority research include the Semantic Web, Sensors and the Sensor Web, Social network analysis, Decision Support and Optimisation, and Connected Health.