Announcements
IBM and University College Dublin Launch Collaboratory to Advance Cognitive and Sustainable Cities Research Capabilities
The collaborative research program, based at UCD O’Brien Centre for Science, will focus on applying cognitive computing technologies to augment human decision making and delivering the next level of advanced collaboration between people and computers. Applications will cross a wide-range of disciplines with global impact including agriculture, connected cars, healthcare management and personalised care, smarter energy and transportation.
''This collaboration between UCD and IBM ties in very well with a number of our research priority areas including the area of Smart Cities. UCD’s research have already helped us significantly improve the way we educate, develop and understand our society in Ireland, and this latest collaboration with IBM opens up a whole world of new possibilities. The research into the seamless blending of technology and people will be the key driver for all aspects of our communities and cities in the 21st Century, where optimisation and sustainability of resources is paramount”, said Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English, TD.
Among the key priorities for the research collaboratory is to develop and evaluate cognitive computing applications in the dedicated or controlled ‘mini-city’ environment of UCD’s Belfield Campus, providing deeper understanding and optimisation of a city infrastructure as a whole.
For example, researchers will apply prediction and optimisation technologies to study the live dynamics of connected cars, integrating mobile applications, energy management and monitoring the results to transform the planning and economic management of sustainable transportation.
In personalised care and healthcare management, IBM scientists will augment UCD’s world-leading research capability to study and improve social and healthcare planning and delivery. The goal is to enable better outcomes through end-to-end collaboration in personalised care planning and delivery through the application of cognitive computing technologies. These cognitive technologies are intended to augment collaborative decision-making between medical experts and end users, in more natural ways, by learning through interaction and overcoming limitations posed by big data in care management.
A pilot project on smarter buildings, fusing cognitive computing with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, will employ sustainable energy design and operation approaches to evaluate and improve energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. This will be integrated with innovative environmental, water and transportation solutions on the campus to optimise cost savings and environmental benefits at UCD.
Professor Andrew J. Deeks, UCD President said, “Through our research collaboratory with IBM, we aim to develop and evaluate technologies here at UCD that will expand our capabilities to deliver innovative IoT solutions to Ireland and around the world.”
“This is an opportunity to share our cognitive research expertise, deep analytics capabilities, and open standards to help transform the systems, operations and service delivery in UCD and across the globe", said Dr. Eleni Pratsini, Director IBM Research - Ireland. "UCD's track record, combined with its ongoing innovative approach to education and new business creation, makes it an ideal location for our research collaboration."
More about UCD Research and Innovation: Excellent research and innovation are central to all that we do in University College Dublin. At UCD we draw on the range and depth of our disciplines, the commitment of our community and the strength of our partnerships to deliver impact in areas of importance and opportunity. As outlined in the UCD Strategy for Research, Innovation and Impact (2015-2020) our vision is that by 2020 UCD will be known internationally for the excellence of our research and innovation, and for the effective manner in which we harness all of our resources and partnerships to deliver impact at scale in areas of global opportunity. We will be a central hub in leading international research networks in a number of strategic areas. Internationally-leading researchers will find in UCD an institution that matches their ambition and in which they want to build their careers. Partners and funders, nationally and internationally, in enterprise, education, government agencies and social and cultural organisations will find an open and dynamic institution that delivers value in areas of mutual interest.
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Site links PhotoPictured L-R: Professor Andrew J. Deeks (UCD President), Dr. Eleni Pratsini (Lab Director, IBM Research - Ireland) and Minister Damien English (Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation )
