2. TSSG Executive Management
• Willie Donnelly
– Director, TSSG
• Also Head of Research in WIT
• Mícheál Ó Foghlú
– Executive Director Research, TSSG
• Also director of Irish IPv6 Centre
• Barry Downes
– Executive Director Innovation & Commercialisation, TSSG
• Also director of 3CS ‐ Converged Communications Services
• Eamonn de Leastar
– CTO, TSSG
3. TSSG is in ArcLabs
• ArcLabs: building, centre, idea ‐ a catalyst for innovation
– Combines R&D and Innovation in WIT under one roof
– A formal structure in WIT to link research and innovation
• But it’s really about the people (and our track record)
– Willie Donnelly et al (Director TSSG ‐ 150 staff/students,
125 projects, 14 companies, 60 jobs in the companies)
– Kathryn Kiely (WIT Manager Industry Services)
– Tom Corcoran (Centre Manager, ArcLabs ‐ 21 companies)
– Bill O’Gorman (Centre for Entrepreneurship)
– Eugene Crehan (SEEPP ‐ 18 participants, historically 130
companies creating 320 jobs regionally)
• TSSG/SEEPP co‐location since 2001 in Confederation House
“Research & Innovation Centre” opened
5. TSSG Macro Model
Enterprise Ireland
Commercial Experimental Development
Companies
Funding of projects
and Licencing
Spin‐out, Spin‐in,
TT
ILO
Institutional support and internal links
RSU CFM CFE Incubation &Training
6. TSSG Organisational Structure
Mícheál Ó Foghlú Barry Downes (3CS) Other
Centre for Converged Services Company
Funding Basic and Applied
Research EI Client or
Multinational
CIM ETA
Miguel Ponce de CF‐POC CORD /
Leon Feasibility
CSG
SEEPP
CF‐POC
TSSG Knowledge IMIS
Management
PCS
Validation
Kevin Doolin
Operations IP
Infrastructure
& Design
7. TSSG Funded Project Stats
Total Projects 125 projects
of which TSSG led 75 %
Active Projects Jan 2009 37 projects
Completed Projects Jan 2009 78 projects
Average project = €450k, Total = €60 Million 1996‐2009
Staff number = 140 (20 PhDs, 5 Faculty, 12 Postdocs)
Spin‐in/Spin‐Out company job number = 60
Partners = 150 academic & industrial partners working on funded projects
8. TSSG Funding Mix: All Projects
Other
1%
HEA
18%
A Balanced Portfolio:
EI 6 projects
(4 capital)
29% approx 50 • Basic: HEA & SFI (39%)
projects
5 projects • Applied: EU (31%)
SFI
approx 50 21 • Pre-product: EI (29%)
projects
(Basic includes capital
EU
31%
expenditure i.e. buildings)
Total: €60 M Funding (1996 – 2009) Total: 125 Projects
9. TSSG Positioning
• Basic Research (HEA, SFI)
One of TOP 3 academic centre's in Ireland in
telecommunications: WIT (TSSG), TCD (CTVR), DCU
(RINCE)
• Applied Research (EU FP7)
Irish winner of EU FP7 funding ‐ twice nearest competitor
Ranked Top 10 institute in Europe in Future Internet
research (i.e. on a par with Nokia, Ericsson, FhG FOKUS)
Engaged in many EU Technology Platforms at board level
(eMobility, NEM, NESSI)
10. TSSG Positioning Contd…
• Commercialisation (EI)
One of the top research groups for commercialisation
Leading edge innovation & technology development in:
IMS
Web 2.0
Mobile
Commercial ‘Spin‐offs’ (Separate from TSSG)
Early stage technology clusters emerging based around TSSG
work
60 jobs created in ‘Spin‐Off’ companies linked to TSSG
Continue to develop other companies in the marketplace
11. TSSG Research & Innovation
Philosophy
• Research and innovation is non‐linear:
good ideas come from ALL parts of an ecosystem ‐ requiring a
balance of funding to maintain the flow of the ecosystem
• Equal value across all parts of ecosystem:
basic research, applied research, and commercialisation,
build expertise in VC funding and following stages
• Build research teams:
utilise non‐traditional staff (professional researchers) in
applied and commercial research ‐ fight academic
norms/assumptions
12. Stokes’ Pasteur’s Quadrant
A detailed Analysis of
Vannevar Bush, NSF, OECD
Frascati and other ways in
which basic and applied
research have been split by
funding mechanisms, to the
detriment of technological
innovation.
Stokes, Donald E. [1997] Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological
Innovation. Washington D.C., USA: Brookings Institution Press.
13. Stokes’ Pasteur’s Quadrant
Considerations for Use ?
No Yes
Pure Basic Use‐Inspired
Yes
Research Basic Research
Quest for
(Bohr) (Pasteur)
Fundamental
understanding?
No Pure Applied
Research
Taxonomies and Tools
Researchers are the users
(Edison)
(Adapted from Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, Stokes
1997, p. 73).
14. TSSG Industrial Engagement
• Multi‐national (examples)
– Ericsson, IBM, Cisco ‐ partners SFI SRC FAME
– Intel ‐ partners EU FP7 projects
• Irish Indigenous (examples)
– Eircom, Rococo, Mobile Aware ‐ partners EI ILRP
– Meteor, Druid ‐ partners IMS Testbed
• TSSG Spin‐out (examples ‐ see next slides)
– Headway, Zolk C, Feedhenry
• TSSG Spin‐in (examples ‐ see next slides)
– MUZU
15. Headway Wins ‘Jolt Award’
JOLT Award
San Francisco
The 'Oscars” of Software Development
Industry Honor Innovation & Technological
Achievement
Winner:
Structure101 for Java
19. Contact Details
Mícheál Ó Foghlú TSSG Offices:
Executive Director Research TSSG (Waterford, Ireland) Headquarters
TSSG, WIT ArcLabs Research & Innovation Building
mofoghlu@tssg.org WIT West Campus, Carriganore
+353 51 302963 (w) Co. Waterford, Ireland
+353 86 8044640 (m)
TSSG (California, USA) Investment/VC Network
101 California Street
Barry Downes Suite 2450
Executive Director 3CS San Francisco
TSSG, WIT CA 94111 , USA
bdownes@tssg.org
+353 51 302932 (w) TSSG (Dublin, Ireland) Customer Meetings
+353 87 9075535 (m) Digital Depot, Roe Lane
The Digital Hub
Dublin 8, Ireland
