DIT PhD Project
Supervisor name & contact details:
Dr. Deirdre Lillis
Email: deirdre.lillis@dit.ie
Dr. Sarah Jane Delany
Email: sarahjane.delany@dit.ie
Research Centre:
Applied Intelligence Research Centre
The Applied Intelligence Research
Centre researches the application of
computational intelligence technologies to real
world problems. The core competencies of the
AIRC include machine learning, language
technologies, intelligent agents and data
analytics.
Research Centre website:
www.comp.dit.it/aigroup
Supervisors Publication List;
Dr. Deirdre Lillis (http://bit.ly/SoR84U )
Dr. Sarahjane Delany (http://bit.ly/QiAbaA)
Title of the Project: Knowledge transfer channels in the software sector
Project Summary:
The ICT sector is a critical sector of the Irish economy and Dublin is globally recognised as a major
international hub for ICT, with stated ambitions to be the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’. Dublin ranks
outside the top 100 EU regions on most innovation indicators however (EC, 2014a). It the
research policy and innovation systems literature, the dynamics of and differences between
industrial sectors is not well understood and the software sector in particular has a sparse
empirical base. This is compounded by the impact of disruptive technologies such as mobile, web
2.0 and cloud that have transformed the sector in the last decade. As a key aspect of an
innovation system, this project will identify (i) the most important knowledge transfer channels
(KTCs)1 between Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and enterprises in the Dublin software sector
(or other major/emerging ICT hub) and (ii) the most appropriate criteria to evaluate the
effectiveness of these KTCs. It will empirically test the effectiveness of a prioritised set of KTCs
and identify the factors that influence their effectiveness. The overarching goal is to ensure that
software enterprises benefit from the RDI activities in public research institutions. Its findings
will therefore have significance for government policy with respect to education and enterprise
1 For readability, the acronymn ‘KTC’ will be used in this proposal to refer to formal, contractual, semi-formal and informal knowledge
transfer channels between higher education institutes and industry.
development.
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
Capacity Building for technological personnel