Implementing a smartbay on the west coast of Ireland

The aim of SmartBay Galway is the development of a strategically positioned marine research platform, with a reputation for the development of leading-edge technologies for global markets and for the development of innovative solutions to address important environmental issues. The SmartBay project has seen the deployment of a number of environmental sentinel platforms and the integration of existing sensors and information sources into a data and information environment with an innovative human interface with advanced visualization capabilities supporting multidisciplinary users. SmartBay Galway has, at its core, a real time sensor data warehouse that supports multiparameter and multiscale sensor feeds. One of the key goals of the project is to mobilize research skills and expertise based in Ireland in fields such as microelectronics, sensors, advanced materials, and communications involving scientists, technologists, and the corporate sector. The innovative aspects of the project are broad in that a robust open, yet flexible, foundational infrastructure has been demonstrated which can quickly adapt to support new projects, sensors, input data streams, and users, providing numerous benefits to a diverse research community. © Journal of Ocean Technology 2010.