Speech by Minister Devins, T.D., at the HEAnet Conference Launching HEAnet Strategic Plan 2008 – 2013
Kilkenny - Thursday, 13th November, 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen
I take great pleasure in launching HEAnet’s Strategic Plan for the next five years. The plan is a clear vision that will assist the company in providing the critical internet services that are vital to the success of Ireland’s education and research institutions.
The policy objectives facing HEAnet are many and interlinked. The National Development Plan, the National Skills Strategy, and the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation lay out challenging targets for Ireland as a whole. HEAnet has a vital role to play in meeting many of these targets.
The vision of an Ireland set out in these strategic documents is one of a country transformed. Under the ¤8 billion Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation, we have set ourselves a goal of developing Ireland into a leader in research, development and innovation. This strategy is based on a vision of placing Ireland firmly on the global map in terms of the excellence of our research and at the leading-edge in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress.
Over the last ten years we have seen unprecedented investment by the Government in the research and development capacity of our third level institutions. The research investment being provided reflects the awareness that, in a global economy increasingly shaped by new advances in knowledge and technology, Ireland’s success will depend on the strength of its R&D base.
Growing research capability is also a core component of the European Union's drive to become the most competitive and dynamic, knowledge-driven economy. Ireland has fully embraced that challenge and the SSTI represents our comprehensive plan to guide us towards that goal.
World-Class Networking for Ireland
A critical element of research infrastructure is a modern high bandwidth computer network to support national and international collaborations. The collaborative approach can give a significant increment of additionality to the regular programmes of individual institutions and the need for inter-institutional collaboration, both at a national and international level, continues to grow. Such collaboration needs to be underpinned by a ‘world-class’ communications infrastructure.
The Irish Government has committed considerable investment to ICT networking services for the education sector in recent years and HEAnet has been at the forefront in providing these services. The role performed by HEAnet has never been more important as the number of people participating in third and fourth level education is at an all-time high and is expected to grow further.
HEAnet’s development of a high class Research & Education Network, which is at the leading edge of world-wide networking development, has enabled researchers in Ireland to access research facilities throughout Europe and the rest of the world. This presence in international research arenas will greatly assist in attracting research investment into the country.
HEAnet has set itself three overarching goals for the next five years:
• The delivery of advanced ICT networking services to manage vast datasets which are now ever-increasingly required;
• The provision of secure and reliable access to e-learning across the higher education sector in support of life long learning initiatives; and finally
• The delivery of ICT services to dynamically cater for the changing needs of the education and research sector.
This will ensure that Ireland’s networking infrastructure for education and research is absolutely world-class and keeps Ireland at the leading edge of international broadband networking developments, consistently reaching the levels of the leading countries in Europe and around the world, so that we can continue to successfully compete in research and innovation.
Supporting Research Programmes
Supported by Government funding, our Higher Education Institutions are involved in a variety of research funding programmes. The importance of a sound underpinning communications infrastructure cannot be overstated. HEAnet provides and manages the infrastructure and the services which support researchers under a range of national and European programmes, including:
• PRTLI (Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions), administered by the HEA
• Initiatives funded by SFI (Science Foundation Ireland)
• Research activities of the Health Research Board (HRB)
• Research programmes of:
o Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
o The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET)
o The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS)
- • Emerging Grid activities within Ireland.
• EU Framework Programmes (FP6, FP7)
As well as serving member institutions and their communities of staff, students and researchers generally, HEAnet provides direct support for research projects and institutions which operate within and between the formal institutions including:
• The Conway Institute
• The Hamilton Institute (NUI Maynooth)
• National Centre for High-End Computing, (SFI funded)
• The Marine Research Institute and the University Teaching Hospitals to name but a few
The successful implementation of these projects will result in an Ireland capable of conducting world-class research programs in collaboration with partners all over the globe and the services provided by HEAnet will be key to their success.
Broadband Internet for Schools
It is also important to note that HEAnet is not exclusively the domain of Higher Education. The Department of Education and Science has leveraged its investment in the higher education network to deliver managed broadband internet services to every primary and post-primary school in this country.
More than 95% of Ireland’s 4,000 primary and post-primary schools are now connected to HEAnet’s Schools Network. The Network will facilitate the Government’s aim to provide broadband connectivity from every school in the country to the internet, multi-media resources, and connection to appropriate research networks
A HEAnet survey of over 100 schools has found that approx. 75% of those schools surveyed stated that they would be more inclined to incorporate the Internet in classroom activity than before HEAnet’s filtering service was in place. This will no doubt help provide future generations gains a wider knowledge of IT skills.
Last modified: 13/11/2008
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