An IBM collaboratory is a laboratory where IBM Researchers co-locate with a university, government, or commercial partner to share skills and resources. This allows IBM staff the opportunity to pursue research outside IBM’s labs and existing business units.
The Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said, “Choosing Ireland as a location for global research centres is significant for Ireland and is in line with IDA Ireland’s strategy of developing high-value knowledge-based R&D projects with leading technology companies.”
The announcement strengthens the computational science capability of Ireland in line with the government’s Strategy for Science and Technology 2006–2013.
The agreement will see IBM supercomputing and multidisciplinary experts work directly with researchers from Trinity College Dublin, Tyndall National Institute in Cork, National University of Ireland Galway, University College Cork and IRCSET, the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology to develop computing architectures and technologies that overcome current limitations of dealing with the massive volumes of real-time data and analysis.
While high performance computing today primarily focuses on scientific applications in areas such as physics or medicine, the research in Dublin will focus on how powerful computing systems can be applied to business problems.
For example, the researchers for will study financial services using real-time, intelligent analysis of a company’s valuation developed from business models using data from investor profiles, live market trading and stock market news feeds. The research will also focus on making sense of data from social networks to understand rapidly evolving and changing business trends and opportunities.
The technical research will explore innovative ways of using new memory architectures, interconnecting technologies and fabric structures.
Michael Daly, Country General Manager IBM Ireland, said, “IBM’s collaboratory strategy will be a vital part of how we will work to apply intelligence to improve the way the world works and solve our clients’ toughest problems.”
“A collaboratory is not a place, but it’s an integration of teams who can achieve more by working together than working alone.”
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