TSSG Welcomes Visitors to Data Centre
The Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) were delighted to have Dr Derek O’Byrne, WIT Registrar and Deputy President, Orm Kenny from Waterford Chamber of Commerce visit the new TSSG building at Carriganore Campus on the 30th March which included a tour of the new TSSG Data Centre.
The data centre is located within TSSG’s new research building co-located with Arclabs at the Carriganore West Campus, part of the Waterford Institute of Technology. The energy–efficient data centre was completed in January 2010, in order to support its network-based research projects in the area of telecommunications networking and cloud computing.
The data centre is located within the new building on the West Campus and will be able to support numerous research projects simultaneously, many dealing with cloud computing and others requiring a great deal of data crunching and advanced networking.
Energy efficiency is critical, but the data centre also had to be flexible, allowing for rapid reconfiguration at regular intervals as research projects changed. The Data Centre was designed with high-density, power efficiency and separation of services as its primary goals. It has a total IT power load of 300Kw with some cabinets engineered to house 30kw of IT equipment. Loads of this size require detailed engineering to ensure reliability, but more importantly to minimize cooling costs. The minimization of non IT costs, such as cooling, was critical to the overall efficiency of the centre.
To learn more about the Data Centre please contact:
Jerry Horgan
Email: jhorgan@tssg.org
TSSG welcome members of PASSIVE
The Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) is a participating member of PASSIVE, a two year €3.5m EU research project to investigate the security and data protection issues posed by cloud computing in e-Government. The TSSG were delighted to host the PASSIVE plenary session at the Carriganore Campus, Waterford during the week, and welcomed all European partners for the 3 day workshop.
The PASSIVE project has been designed to investigate data security and protection issues within cloud infrastructure. Working with collaborators, TSSG is looking for ways to mitigate risks so national and local governments, civic authorities and enterprises can comply with EU data and security laws.
The central idea behind PASSIVE is to allow security threats be easily specified, detected and addressed. By using a ‘policy–based approach administrators set rules that define who has access to what information. PASSIVE will provide separation of data (e.g. policing and judiciary) to reassure people that their personal data, e.g. tax returns, social security details, are securely collected, stored, and managed.
Once the team have created a secure system that enables responsible data management practices, they hope to end stories about missing memory sticks, laptops and other devices containing citizens’ personal information. In essence, PASSIVE’s goal is to provide confidence for eGovernment and EU citizens.
TSSG’s role is to keep abreast of changes and developments in virtualisation so the project employs state-of-the art technology. TSSG liaised with contacts in industry to ensure best practices are followed and to help resolve challenges during the project. TSSG were also be involved in designing and building the technology that controls and monitors the use of resources that hold sensitive data.
For more information please visit:
PASSIVE project website
Or contact
Project Manager Eamon Power
TSSG Think Tank Event Success
The TSSG Think Tank Event which was held in the Kilkenny Rivercourt Hotel on Tues 27th March was an great success with over 30 delegates attending across various Industry sectors.
This half day event , organised by the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) highlighted the opportunities, services, programmes and resources available for SME’s, entrepreneurs and industry in Kilkenny and the South-East for those wishing to further develop ideas or grow their business.
Additional Guest Speakers included Paul O’ Loughlin Kennedy, CEO, WiniCabs who previously engaged TSSG on an Innovation Voucher, via an Enterprise Ireland, Mr Eugene Crehan, Director of Programmes, New Frontiers, Nick Mc Grath CEO, Hybrid Energy and John Dempsey, Chief Financial Officer, Invest Kilkenny.
All speakers provided a holistic view of the various services, programmes and opportunities available to Industry.
The TSSG Think Tank workshop in Kilkenny was part of a series of workshops that will be held throughout the coming year throughout Ireland.
TSSG Joins the Information Security Ireland (ISI) Working Group
The Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG) specialised Security Research Unit recently become members of the Information Security Ireland (ISI).
The Information Security Ireland (ISI) was set up in 2009 by a group of six Irish ICT & Security Companies as a networking body to act as a central force in the industry. The ISI promotes interaction with technology firms, research institutes, academia and government. It promotes the industry worldwide by creating an awareness of Ireland’s track record and capabilities in this field.
The ISI objectives include being the Irish voice of information security, to be seen as an information security global thought leader, to promote Ireland, its technologies, firms, graduates and academia as an information security centre of excellence and to advise and prepare the Irish government for its role in the information security revolution. Information security is the protection of information and information systems from unauthorised or non-compliant access, use, disclosure and modification.
Since joining ISI, TSSGs security research unit manager, Paul Malone has attended and participated to the Research meets Industry Networking Event on 22nd February in Dublin, where he had the opportunity to promote the Security research activities undertaken by the TSSG. Paul will also be attending the upcoming ISI event on the 30th March in Cork, which includes a combined visit to Trend Micro and GRC Technology Centre in UCC, headed up by Anthony O’Mara, Senior Vice President, TrendMicro and Dr. Tom Butler, Principal Investigator UCC.
The Green Party, TSSG and GREEN ICT Research
Yesterday, Wednesday 21st March, The Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) was delighted to welcome the leader of the Green Party, Mr. Eamon Ryan to the TSSG Carriganore, West Campus in Waterford.
Mr. Ryan visited the TSSG to gain a better understanding of Green ICT and Energy Efficiency research carried out by the Group. TSSG presented several presentations on leading Green ICT projects, including ASTRAL, GreenT and FINSENY projects presented by Dr. Kevin Quinn, along with ACTIVE – for Green Data Centres presented by Dr. Ray Carroll and Shane Dempsey, and finally a presentation on Technology Mediated Social Participation presented by Edel Jennings.
The Green Party recognises the importance of planning for Irelands future energy needs. Green ICT and Energy Efficiency research is becoming an increasingly important factor in helping Irish Industry become more efficient by implementing innovative IT-based measures that can help reduce carbon emissions, enabling a reduction in IT –related energy costs across business operations.
For more information on Green ICT projects in TSSG please read
