Trinity College Dublin connects into LoRa global internet of things alliance

12 Aug 2016

Trinity College is the first Irish university to join the LoRa Alliance to encourage the rapid deployment of the internet of things

Trinity College Dublin is the first Irish university to join the LoRa Alliance, an international organisation encouraging the rapid deployment of the internet of things (IoT).

Trinity’s involvement with LoRa will be via the Connect Centre, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre for future networks and communications that is headquartered at the college.

The LoRa Alliance is an open, non-profit association of members that believes the IoT era is now.

‘Connect’s Pervasive Nation  programme is currently building a nationwide internet of things testbed to facilitate extensive pre-commercial research’
– PROF LINDA DOYLE, CONNECT

It was initiated by industry leaders with a mission to standardise low-power wide area networks (LPWAN) being deployed around the world to enable IoT, machine-to- machine (M2M), smart city, and industrial applications.

The Alliance members will collaborate to drive the global success of the LoRa protocol (LoRaWAN), by sharing knowledge and experience to guarantee interoperability between operators in one open global standard.

Shaping the future of things

“Our membership of the LoRa Alliance places us alongside world-leading companies such as IBM, Cisco and Orange,” explained Professor Linda Doyle, director of Connect.

“It provides a fantastic opportunity for Trinity and Connect to shape the internet of things future.

“Connect’s Pervasive Nation  programme is currently building a nationwide internet of things testbed to facilitate extensive pre-commercial research,” Doyle continued.

“It will largely use low-power wide area networks. These are an excellent connectivity solution and we are particularly interested in the capabilities and potential of the LoRa version of this technology.”

The chair of the LoRa Alliance Geoff Mulligan said that having Trinity as an institutional member of LoRa will ensure Ireland will keep pace with, and shape, the rapidly-evolving IoT scene.

“Trinity’s Connect Centre will bring excellent research expertise as we work together to enable connectivity for internet of things applications such as smart cities and industrial applications.

Trinity College Library image Via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com