Mr. Minister Ahern Opens €1.25M Research Centre in Athlone IT

SUNAT Applied Research Centre to Undertake World Class Research in Adaptive Technologies

The SUNAT Applied Research Centre in Athlone IT is the latest research group to be approved for €1.25million in funding under Enterprise Ireland’s Applied Research Centre Programme.

SUNAT means the Seamless Use through Network Abstraction Technologies and the research team will specialise in adaptive networking technologies, a niche research area with great potential for the mobile telecommunications industry.

The new centre is based in the Software Research Centre at Athlone IT which is already undertaking collaborative research activities with a range of companies in this industry including Ericsson, 3Touch, Biznet Solutions and Eircom.

This speciality has made them an attractive proposition for collaboration with technology start-up companies, SMEs and Multinational companies in the Midlands.

Speaking at the opening of the new centre, Minister for Innovation Policy, Michael Ahern T.D, said; “The SUNAT Applied Research Centre represents a valuable research resource for industry, and as such it will complement other activities carried out by Athlone IT’s Software Research Centre where it will be based. It will greatly assist the generation of regional economic activity through the creation of a strong applied research base for the region”.

“The Applied Research Enhancement programme was created to enhance the applied research capabilities of Ireland’s Institutes of Technology which is one of the key areas outlined in the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2007 – 2013”, the Minister added.

The SUNAT Applied Research Centre came about when the researchers based in Athlone IT’s Software Research Centre noted that commercially-focussed mobile application development is overly dependent on the underlying technology.

Explaining the technology, Enda Fallon Manager of the SUNAT Applied Research Centre said;

“It is difficult to write software for handheld devices like mobile phones because a mobile phone needs the software customised specifically for each model. This project will make it easy for companies to write applications for mobile phones and hand-held devices themselves so they can use mobile networks or wireless networks when it is most suitable. In essence, what the SUNAT Applied Research Centre will do is produce a simple set of mobile software applications for companies that are not expert in complex technologies”.

“Looking at the applications for this new software, the critical questions are how important is the data you want to transfer and how much are you willing to pay to get it transferred?

“For example, if a teenager wants to use the landline at home, they may not consider the reliability of the phone call as important as the cost. They would choose the cheapest network to make the call.

On the other hand, the research team also work with medical companies to develop body sensors for heart monitoring. For them the issue is reliability – they want the most reliable connection as the data is life critical” Fallon said.

Other potential uses of this adaptive networking technology include;

• Reliably reading performance stats from equipment inside semiconductor manufacturing plants where wireless connectivity is intermittent
• Enhancing the reliability of video conferencing sessions
• Enhancing the reliability of video on demand services
• Making more cost effective voice calls from mobile phones

The SUNAT Applied Research Centre will cut out all the hard technology issues around making business mobile and make it easy for companies that are not specialists in IT to mobilise their products, services and workforces.

ENDS/IP18

For more information contact: Enterprise Ireland – Press Office – 01 8082000

Notes for the Editor: