The Science Foundation Ireland-funded Adapt Centre, led out of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), has launched a Horizon 2020 programme that will be instrumental in realising the goals of the European Digital Single Market through ICT standards research. ICT standards are vital in achieving interoperability of new technologies. The Adapt Centre’s activities encompass a wide range of research subjects, including artificial intelligence, social media analysis, machine learning and cognitive systems, among others.

The new programme  Elite-S is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie co-fund and has received more than €1.1m in funding from the EU Horizon 2020 initiative. Dr Markus Helfert from the Adapt Centre at Dublin City University (DCU), who is a coordinator of Elite-S, said: “The Elite-S programme provides a mechanism to build up the skills of researchers in ICT standards, and these 16 researchers can help industry to actually engage in the standardisation process.”

The programme aims to provide fellows with industry-specific training and secondments in crucial sectors such as 5G, IoT, cloud computing, cybersecurity and data technologies. With the support of Ibec and the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Adapt will match fellows with industry partners to help shape future ICT standards. Liam Cronin, commercial director at Adapt, said: “Participating companies will have access to the Elite-S network of leaders, which together will play a central role in influencing and shaping national and European ICT standards and work of international standards committees, presenting a huge opportunity for creating competitive advantage in the global marketplace.”

The Elite-S programme will run for a five-year period, with recruitment of fellows beginning today. Adapt academics from DCU, TCD, Technological University Dublin and University College Dublin are taking part in the programme. Fellowships will be offered in four core research areas: regulations and compliance, content analytics and preservation, data and process management, and interoperability.