Image by Jason Clarke Photography
At an event showcasing the work of the CLARITY Centre for Sensor Web Technologies in Dublin today, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, applauded the research centre for its contribution to job creation in Ireland.
CLARITY is a joint initiative between University College Dublin, Dublin City University and the Tyndall National Institute, Cork, supported by the Government through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). More than 150 researchers and industry professionals attended the CLARITY 2012 showcase event in Clontarf Castle, where more than 35 demonstrations and 50 presentations took place.
Bruton, who opened the event, 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 start-ups and SMEs to large multinationals.”
At the event, CLARITY researchers showcased the latest advances in the areas of adaptive sensing and information discovery, and future applications of sensor technologies across sport, energy, healthcare, enterprise and the social web.
A wide impact
The centre was established in 2008 with initial funding from SFI of €11.2m. “I am delighted to see that CLARITY has leveraged double the exchequer’s initial funding through SFI to be an internationally recognised centre with total funding of over €34m to date,” said Bruton. “From the initial SFI investment, CLARITY has already created 60 additional high-end jobs, three spin-out companies and now has a healthy pipeline of new companies and jobs in the making.”
To date, CLARITY has partnered with and created projects for IBM, Microsoft Research, Disney, Samsung, the Irish rugby team, Dublin GAA and the Irish Women’s hockey team and Adidas, among others. “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,” said Prof Alan Smeaton, deputy director of CLARITY.
