Waterford/Limerick, July 16, 2020: Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software, has announced that it is to expand its research capabilities with the addition of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) as an academic partner.

Hosted by University of Limerick (UL) Lero currently brings together expert software teams from universities and institutes of technology across Ireland in a co-ordinated centre of research excellence with a strong industry focus.

Telecommunication Software and Systems Group (TSSG), the internationally recognised WIT-based centre for ICT research and innovation and the country’s largest Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway, will play an instrumental role in the new WIT-Lero partnership.

Lero was founded in 2005 with four universities working on the theme of software engineering research and this has now grown to eleven higher-education institutes (HEIs) including WIT (Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, University College Cork, NUI Galway, Maynooth University, Dublin City University, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Tralee, Cork Institute of Technology and its host UL).

“Researchers from WIT and TSSG, along with Lero’s other higher-education institutes, will play a key role in the years ahead as we reap the benefits of research and science to protect the wellbeing of the population and power the national economy. The COVID-19 crisis has driven home the urgent requirement to expand our research capabilities and outlook,” said Professor Brian Fitzgerald, Director of Lero.

WIT’s Vice President of Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies Dr Mark White said the institute is looking forward to partnering and growing with Lero. “Since its inception 15 years ago, Lero has developed a national research infrastructure on a par with the best in the world. Here at WIT, our world-class academic and research teams are looking forward to enriching the growth and development of that research infrastructure and contributing to the technological advances, social impacts and economic benefits. Collaborations such as these are so important for the growth and development of the scientific and technical sector and the south east region,” added Dr White.

TSSG director of research Dr Sasitharan Balasubramaniam said the opportunities for collaboration on multidisciplinary research in partnership with Lero’s established research teams throughout Ireland is something the team at TSSG looks forward to. “I know that through our research, we can make a real difference by fusing our combined expertise to overcome real-world problems,” he added. “The TSSG’s focus towards multi-disciplinary application of ICT will open new research directions with Lero focusing on new areas that includes Internet of Nano Things, DNA data storage, Cyber Physical systems in Healthcare Environments, as well as other areas.”