Nov 23 2012
The Applications of the Sensor Web: CLARITY 2012 Showcase Event took place today at Clontarf Castle in Dublin. The open day was attended by over 150 researchers, industry professionals and state agencies and the latest advances in the areas of adaptive sensing and information discovery were on show.
Prof Barry Smyth, CLARITY Director, Dr. Edel O'Connor from CLARITY/DCU, Minister Richard Bruton and Prof Mark Ferguson, Director of SFI.
CLARITY is a Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said,
"CLARITY is an excellent example of the benefits of investing in Irish innovation. Through this initiative, over 120 top-class researchers in Ireland are collaborating with more than 60 companies worldwide from startups and SMEs to large multinationals. Through its growth and success, CLARITY demonstrates how scientific research can deliver a near-term positive economic impact, enabling the development of new products, services and ultimately creating more quality employment opportunities for Irish based enterprise."
"I am delighted to see that CLARITY has leveraged double the exchequer's initial funding through SFI to be an internationally recognized centre with total funding of over €34m to date. From the initial SFI investment CLARITY has already created 60 additional high-end jobs, 3 spin-out companies and now has a healthy pipeline of new companies and jobs in the making."
Over 35 demonstrations and 50 presentations were held proving how sensors can be used to gather data and provide real-time analysis in areas as diverse as athletic performance, administering healthcare, water treatment, gaming, gas monitoring, online reviews and team behaviour. CLARITY researchers were on hand to explain their research and illustrate how their technologies can be used now and in the future. One project outlined how wearable sensor technology could monitor the performance on an athlete during competition and the quick analysis of the data could impact performance levels. Another project shows how CLARITY's Big Data capability helps to monitor water purification systems in Brazil – from Dublin.
CLARITY partners and projects include working with IBM, Microsoft Research, Disney, Samsung, the Irish Rugby Team, Dublin GAA and the Irish Womens Hockey Team and Adidas amongst a host of others which includes the health and energy sectors. Professor Barry Smyth, Director of CLARITY commented, "We are delighted with the progress that we have made over the past number of years. It is very clear that our research is having a meaningful and measurable economic impact, both in terms of additional jobs created within the centre and the creation of employment within CLARITY spinouts." Prof Alan Smeaton, Deputy Director of CLARITY said that "the variety of areas in which CLARITY's work on the sensor web is having an impact has surprised even us, from sports and rehabilitation, to energy monitoring in homes, to helping people with dementia".
Prof. Mark Ferguson, Director General, Science Foundation Ireland added, "CLARITY is a prime example of how excellence in scientific research can deliver a real impact in terms of collaboration with industry and innovation across a variety of sectors. Today's event opens up scientific progress to the public and shows them the multitude of benefits that it can deliver."
The CLARITY Centre for Sensor Web Technologies is an SFI funded joint-initiative between UCD, Dublin City University and the Tyndall National Institute. Irish incepted, CLARITY is a world class research centre established to explore the intersection between the online world of the web and the physical world in which we live bridging the gap between adaptive sensing and information technology. Since the initial SFI funding of €11.2m in 2008 CLARITY has grown rapidly and now represents a total investment of more than €34m from both national and international sources. CLARITY is also funded by Enterprise Ireland through a range of commercialisation based funding programmes.