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Minister Devins Opens Next Generation Telecoms Research Mid-Term Review
26 Industry stakeholders meet to plot future for sector in Ireland
Consumers could soon be able to get the quickest route to their destination on public transport, find out if there is an available taxi nearby, or have their heart-rate reading analysed all without leaving the house, according to researchers attending the mid-term review of a major telecommunications research project taking place in Dublin’s Digital Exchange today (29th October).
Dr. Jimmy Devins T.D. Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation will open the mid-term review of the €2.5M Enterprise Ireland research project which was established to identify new opportunities for telecoms companies in Ireland.
Branded an ‘industry-led research project’ the IMS ARCS project is half way through its 30 month lifespan.
IMS ARCS stands for ‘IP Multimedia Subsystem Advanced Research Cluster for Services’.
IMS is an emerging network that can carry high bandwidth services such as media based TV and music services to mobile phones, laptops and other personal mobile devices. 
Minister Devins is keen to see the companies involved make the most of the research outputs produced by the research group.
Speaking in advance of the event he said;
“The research outputs produced to date have great potential for the telecoms companies involved to identify new services they can offer to customers when the IMS technology comes on stream in the coming years. This type of activity is critical to the future of Ireland’s economy and I am encouraging the 26 companies involved to take the best advantage of this valuable resource”.
The IMS ARCS network was created by Enterprise Ireland in July 2007 when twenty six of Ireland’s leading telecommunications companies and a team of researchers, led by the Telecommunications Software & Services Group at Waterford IT, were brought together to form a collaborative partnership.
Gearóid Mooney, Enterprise Ireland’s Director of ICT research commercialisation believes that the IMS ARCS project has some exciting potential for Irish companies and the consumer.
“The researchers are testing a number of applications but two examples of use that consumers will find handy are a 'location based service' that allows users to see on their handset if there is an available taxi nearby, and the ability to get the quickest route from A to B on public transport”.
The project will run for a further 15 months and is led by the TSSG at Waterford Institute of Technology and supported by University of Limerick, NUI Maynooth, Athlone Institute of Technology the Fraunhofer Institute of Technology.
The mid-term review will also examine the ‘Future Internet’ with particular focus on the current state of research in this key technology and its future directions. The event will feature a number of key experts from Europe, Japan and the US, providing a global view on the Future Internet and its implications for Ireland.
Rainer Zimmerman, Head of the Future Networks Unit of the European Commission, will speak about EU initiatives in the Future Internet space, including the FP7 programme.
The event is organised by the TSSG, the leading Irish communications software research centre, based in Waterford Institute of Technology, who are also the principal partner in the IMS ARCS academic consortium.
For more information contact:
Grace Labanyi, Communications Officer Enterprise Ireland
087 3286404
01 7272746
grace.labanyi@enterprise-ireland.com
View IMS ARCS Event Calendar Click here