Written by BT.
The BT Ireland Innovation Centre (BTIIC) based in Belfast has become an internationally recognised global centre for excellence in research, innovation and development since it launched in October 2017. The Sync NI team sat down with BT to find out more.
A collaboration between BT Technology’s Applied Research and IT departments and Ulster University, the ten year programme is being jointly funded by local government as well as Invest Northern Irelandwith a combined investment of £28million.
The BTIIC consists of a team 130 people and it is unique as it combines industrial researchers, university researchers and industrial engineers within a single centre. It also includes 20 postdoctoral and senior researchers and 12 PhD students from Ulster University.
A showcase, attended by a number of industry professionals has taken place at W5 in Belfast to highlight the industry leading projects being created right here in Northern Ireland.
Leading the way in Research and Development
Cliona O’Boyle, senior manager of technical solutions at BT in Northern Ireland, said: “At BT, we have always led the way in research and development and we are at the forefront of driving technological change. We are the third largest investor in R&D in the UK, investing £632m in innovation.
“I am proud to be leading the local BT Ireland Innovation Centre, a highly collaborative programme using the very best of technical talent that Northern Ireland has to offer including a wealth of talent coming out of Ulster University.
“BTIIC is the cornerstone of BT’s Global Research & Innovation Programme and our showcaseof projects highlights the very best of this research and development as we have embraced collaborations to innovate for good. Our aim is to create and ultimately deliver high quality products and services for our customers.”
Showcasing the best of innovation
Cyber security
Cliona added: “With cybercrime continuing to escalate across the world, it is more important than ever that we disrupt criminal organisations that try to launch attacks.
“At BT, our security team tackles more than 6,500 global cyber-attacks every day. We work 24/7 and 365 days a year to keep nation-states, governments, the world’s largest companies, our business and millions of our customers safe from cyber-attack.
“Our BTIIC Security project that we have showcased, is the result of partnering with research & academia, to pair industry-leading network insights with advances in AI and automation to predict, detect and neutralise complex and evolving security threats, before they get a chance to inflict damage. These capabilities are invaluable in helping us to always be one step ahead of cyber criminals and to protect our customers.”
Belfast Harbour Intelligent IOT Value-Add Services
“Part of the BTIIC programme focuses on developing innovative and open IoT Value-Add Services (IoT VAS) that generate rich Intellectual Property Rights in the IoT market.
“In our demonstration, we have showcased some examples of Video Anonymisation and Fall Detection for Belfast Harbour in the context of use-cases relating to privacy protection and Health and safety monitoring. Our commercial relationship with Belfast Harbour has meant that we have been able to accelerate the concept-to-market journey of this project to allow for the fast deployment on customer premises and quick testing with these real-life commercial use-cases.”
Healthcare @ Home – Reassuring remote carers of loved ones wellbeing
“As people are living longer, the population of those aged over 65 years old is increasing.” Cliona continued: “This coupled with falling birth rates and rates of chronic disease, means an increasing strain on Health & Social Care services. In BTIIC, we are exploring the use of everyday technologies along with cutting edge AI techniques to increase the quality of care for the older population in their homes and residential care.
“Our project, Health@Home, is a novel activity monitoring system to provide care home staff with a digital overview of their elderly residents. This allows the care home to provide a more personalised care plan in addition to detecting and mitigating risky activities such as falls that may result in life-changing injuries. This can all be done while maintaining the privacy and dignity of residents. Using systems like Health@Home, we can enable the older population to live safer and for longer in their own homes and reduce the pressure on Health & Social Care services.”
“I am also delighted to confirm that this project will be going into a UK care home in the coming months to trial it with residents, further demonstrating the impact that our projects are providing to the public.”
The importance of R&D and looking to the future
Commenting on the showcase, Professor Liam Maguire, Pro Vice Chancellor of Research at UlsterUniversity added: “This programme is a real demonstration of how to improve the knowledge based economy of Northern Ireland by securing collaboration between Ulster University and BT.
“From a research perspective it has been hugely beneficial and we have seen a high number of quality publications, international patents as well as staff receiving awards both nationally and internationally. Within Ulster University it has influenced the teaching provision with the creation of new Masters courses in AI and IOT as well as newer upskilling courses released during the pandemic.”
Cliona continued:“The showcase also highlights the importance of the continued ground-breaking research and development being carried out locally here in Northern Ireland. Myself and my team are excited to see the outputs of how some of our research impacts people’s lives through advancements in healthcare, security, software production to name a few.”
“BTIIC is also collaborating with BT’sother research centres around the world including in the Middle East and China, India as well as MIT in Boston in order to share knowledge and expertise to continue to develop innovative projects. In fact, since the centre was established, we have welcomed 27 visiting researchers from across the world, who are interested to see our technological developments.
“To date, the BTIIC has also been responsible for creating 10 jobs in the centre itself in addition to 28graduate jobs and adding a significant amount of money in salaries to the Northern Ireland economy.”
George McKinney, Director of Technology and Services, Invest NI, said: “We’ve worked closely with BT for many years to help drive growth in innovation and technology. We supported the BTIIC from the outset, offering a £9m grant for R&D. It is great to be at this showcase to celebrate the five-year milestone and see the impact of our support for innovation in action.
“By embracing innovation and investing in R&D, companies are better positioned to stay ahead of their competitors and thrive in the global marketplace. BTIIIC’s R&D projects, and collaboration with local academia, will enhance Northern Ireland’s reputation as a leader in innovative technologies, and encourage a knowledge spill over across the wider Northern Ireland business community. Basing BTIIC here is testament to BT’s confidence in Northern Ireland, and I look forward to future developments.”
Cliona continued: “Investment locally in R&D is key to retaining our talent here and demonstrating on the world stage that we are a leader in research and innovation.”
