National Digital Research Centre - from idea to income

NDRC collaborative project LocalSocial, a platform for creating rich social applications on mobile devices was the proud recipient of “Collaboration of the Year Award” at the Irish Software Association Awards Ceremony at the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, on Friday, 13^th November 2009.  A second NDRC project “HeartPhone” was also nominated for a prestigious industry award on the night. 

The LocalSocial project, a partnership between NDRC, Rococco Software Ltd and University College Dublin, is a social proximity framework designed for use by developers to simplify the process of creating mobile applications that can combine real-time and social information. Using Bluetooth technology LocalSocial can read a device's proximity to other people, places or things, as well as their current and historic online social context.  It gives the social network site the ability to send tailored, individual  local and social networking information to 200 million mobile users. 

NDRC CEO, Ben Hurley said “This type of peer group validation is huge for us and the entrepreneurs involved…. it’s a clear recognition that the model of collaboration we are pursuing with industry partners and researchers is on track to deliver commercial viability and marketplace success”.

"Rococo is delighted to win this award with NDRC and UCD ", said Sean O Sullivan, Rococo CEO. "The LocalSocial project supports Rococo’s momentum in the area of social proximity, and has recently helped us to convince investors of the potential of our product roadmap."

Sean Murphy, Principle Investigator on LocalSocial and UCD researcher said: “This award from the ISA is testament to the LocalSocial team’s vision and ability to deliver in the short range wireless space. LocalSocial combines mobile and wireless market expertise from Rococo, ubiquitous computing expertise from UCD, and investment and market expertise from NDRC.”

Chair of the ISA, Sean Baker said "The Irish software industry is weathering the recession with considerable strength. ….. This year's award winners testify to the strong range of companies based here, from early start-ups to mature companies."

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