SFI invests EUR5.6M in adaptive information technology research team at DCU and UCD:
SFI invests in Artificial Intelligence Research at DCU and UCD

Tuesday 14 October 2003: Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the national foundation for excellence in scientific research, has invested over EUR5.6M in a team of researchers who will be based, at two third level institutions, Dublin City University (DCU) and University College Dublin (UCD).

The team's research will focus on adaptive information technologies, essentially the development of software that can filter and 'personalise' the increasing amounts of information we currently receive through channels like the Internet or mobile phones. Potential applications of this research include personalised advertising and information services, which would allow companies or public service agencies to target specific market segments with marketing or information messages; location based services and so forth.

The significance and commercial potential of the team's research has attracted the interest of Irish-based companies, including Ericsson, IBM, Changing Worlds and Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, who will collaborate closely with the team to resolve key issues in bringing adaptive information technologies to market.

The 'cluster' team, comprises of five knowledge leaders in this sector; Profs. Dermot Diamond and Alan Smeaton from DCU; Profs. Mark Keane and Barry Smyth and Mr. G.M.P O'Hare, all from UCD. Their research will focus on three key areas, of which the team are currently research leaders;

• 1. Adaptive Sensor Networks
  In the future these sensors will become more and more important as this technology is used to embed new ultra small sensors in homes, clothes or, indeed, bodies. For example, these sensors could be used for personal health monitoring to detect and alert an individual with heart problems to changes in his/her heart beat-even when they are abroad. This data could then be sent to a central point which could recommend to the person where to go for treatment. The hospital undertaking the treatment could receive a full medical file in advance of his/her arrival.
• 2. Adaptive Media
  We are all inundated with information from diverse sources. The question is how do we make it meaningful? This research will investigate software systems that adaptively extract and assemble meaningful content from diverse media. For example, traffic monitoring-using audio and video sensors to monitor traffic flows, count pedestrian and motor car volumes and predict congestion will be much more cost effective and reliable than the current technology.
• 3. Adaptive Utilisation
  We are all familiar with the tedium of browsing menus on our mobile phones. This software will be designed to adapt to user needs and personalise content. For example, in mobile Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology, developing a system that changes the way menus appear on mobile phones and prioritises those menus of most interest to users will increase their usability. Providing a solution that enhances these menus will increase use and ultimately the revenue streams of mobile phone operators.

Commenting on the investment, Dr. William C. Harris, Director General, SFI, said: "The novelty of the adaptive information technologies 'cluster' team is the collaboration of both academic and industry expertise into a unified research programme with uniquely integrated hardware and software expertise. This synergy will be manifested in research that produces end-to-end demonstration systems illustrating the commercial possibilities of adaptive technologies. This team of researchers now has the financial and intellectual infrastructure in place to make new and exciting discoveries in the area of software development for adaptive technologies. These advances and the technological competencies that will be built as a result of this investment will be of both economic and technical benefit to Ireland".

Dr Alastair Glass, Director of SFI's ICT Division, added "the work that these researchers will undertake offers the opportunity of building in Ireland core research competencies in fields that offer the prospect of generating new industries and wealth along with a research base that will sustain these scientific and economic advances into the future."