The ones to back in the race to the future...

Leading economies globally are anxiously staking out territory in the next-generation internet. However, with many research centres already operating in this area, Ireland has a head start

THE INFORMATION super highway is getting congested. It is also growing more powerful, with new applications and functionality becoming available almost every day. These developments have led to moves to define the next-generation internet, increasingly referred to as the “future internet”.

The scope and functionality of this future internet will be much broader than that of the internet we know today. Its core infrastructure will incorporate sensor networks, as well as wireless and fixed communications networks. Access and management of data, plus issues of privacy and accountability, are central to its development. However, its most important feature will be its focus on service, which will mean an emphasis on applications supporting all aspects of society, from health to education to commerce.

These developments will undoubtedly create opportunities in science, engineering and related fields. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) recently hosted a high-level workshop to explore how Ireland can take advantage of such opportunities and establish itself as a leading force in the field.

The workshop brought together experts from industry and large research centres engaged in next-generation web technologies and applications. It offered an opportunity to map out a strategic plan for engagement at national and international level in a sector that affects virtually every aspect of life in today’s world.

Other countries have been quick to stake out territory.

“A move is now on by advanced economies to define and deliver next-generation internet, recognising its influential role as a driver of economic growth,” says Professor Fionn Murtagh, director of SFI’s Information, Communications and Emergent Technologies Directorate. “The US, South Korea, Japan, Australia, South Africa and Europe have already established major future internet initiatives.”

In Europe, 27 countries have established national initiatives to roll out future internet testbeds and trial services with a view to becoming early adopters in this field. “To take just one example, Spain invested over €300 million in future internet initiatives in the past year,” says Prof Murtagh.

“Ireland is now focused on formulating a comprehensive research and innovation road map that identifies our capacity to excel in this space, and the means by which we will attain such excellence.”

“The internet is becoming stressed with all the traffic and data it’s carrying,” adds Dr Sandra Collins, scientific programme manager with SFI. “There is already more data out there than you could read in a lifetime and it is doubling every 11 months.

“The future of the internet is partly about trying to understand what’s on it, as well as making the information more accessible. It’s also about making sure the infrastructure can carry all the data and services, as well as about the development of new applications and functions which take advantage of the increased power of that infrastructure.”

According to Dr Collins, Ireland has a disproportionate number of research centres operating in this area. This gives us a head start which can be exploited.

“SFI has invested more than €200 million to date in research that will build the future internet. SFI is funding five different Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSets) in this area. We also have a large number of companies – such as IBM, Bell Labs and Ericsson – which collaborate in research and take the products of that research. Alongside that, we have many Irish SMEs – like Intune Networks, which develops network architecture to cope with the massive increase in unpredictable traffic demand.”

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Innovation Awards the Countdown - Irish Times

Shortlists for The Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation
Awards have been drawn up – and it was no easy task, writes MICHAEL McALEER

IT WAS A LONG and challenging day for the judges of this year’s Innovation Awards, with 21 company presentations to sit through and discuss, but the resounding response was that it rekindled a belief that Irish businesses can overcome the challenges they face.

The breadth of the shortlisted candidates and their inventiveness demonstrated the determination and innovation that’s often cloaked from view by the overwhelming national concern about the economy.

A look at the final shortlisted companies, ranging from public sector reformers to high-end IT or pharma innovators, offers a window into the depth of talent in Ireland.

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Of the 21 selected companies, Intune Networks have been shorlisted in the Product Innovation category:

PRODUCT INNOVATION:
Intune Networks was founded in 1999 by two UCD graduates, John Dunne and Tom Farrell. It has developed advanced optical networking products that give carriers and internet service providers the capacity to meet growing demands for bandwidth.

An explosion in video content and emerging models for cloud-based services have put a strain on networks that is likely to get worse. Bottlenecks will be alleviated by what Dunne refers to as the “Holy Grail of networking”.

For 30 years, laboratories and universities had identified optical packet switching technology as the way forward but it took Dunne and Farrell to come up with a clever piece of IP that made it commercial and scalable.

Early investors were found in Britain and the US, as their Irish counterparts opted for property over technology.

More than 30 companies and institutions have signed up to use the testbed, including BT, Imagine, EMC, UCC Tyndall, NUI Galway, UCD and DCU. The Government has also invested €10 million towards the build of the Exemplar Network using Intune technology (pictured left).

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