All views needed to get a full picture of digital contact tracing

An ongoing international survey on the impact of COVID-19 contact tracing apps wants to hear from individuals and communities whose views are not always heard and those who disagree with various aspects of digital contact tracing. Researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, are conducting the survey which aims to explore...

Huge increase in those willing to share their personal data to combat COVID-19

A new Lero-led study shows an increase of 47% in those willing to share their personal data since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, Irish attitudes to privacy in COVID-19 times, found that there has been a huge increase in respondents, from 14% pre-pandemic to 61%, willing to share personal data including location,...

Why maintaining software is like updating War & Peace

Opinion: those who maintain the software which runs our computer systems and apps face many unseen trials and tribulations. First published on RTÉ Brainstorm, on Wednesday, 03 February, 2021. Imagine your boss calls you next Monday morning. “Listen, about that War and Peace novel. It isn’t doing so good. We’ve had some customer feedback, and...

Why 61% of us are willing to share personal data to save lives

Analysis: a new study has found that Irish attitudes to privacy and the Covid-19 tracker app have changed during the pandemic. First published on RTÉ Brainstorm, on Wednesday, 03 February, 2021. Contact tracing apps used in tracing and mitigating the spread of Covid-19 have sparked discussions and controversies worldwide. The major concerns in relation to these...

Minister announces €37m investment in Lero

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD today announced an investment of €193 million in five SFI Research Centres for a further six years. This investment by Science Foundation Ireland will support approximately 1,060 graduate and Post-Doctoral students and Research Fellows employed by the Centres. Lero, the Science Foundation...

Knowing what you want from digital transformation is the first step

Opinion: Dr Noel Carroll explains why you need to start with the ‘what’, not the ‘how’, when it comes to digital transformation. First published on Silicon Republic, on Sunday, 31 January, 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic is arguably one of the most defining crises over the past 50 years and has had massive implications on organisations...

10 students receive WiSTEM2D awards

Ten University of Limerick students from around Ireland were presented with Johnson & Johnson Ireland’s (J&J) Women in STEM2D (WiSTEM2D) Awards, supported by Lero. Irish Aeronautical Engineer and award-winning STEM advocate, Dr Norah Patten, presented scholarships to the women at a virtual awards ceremony on January 29. WiSTEM2D refers to Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics,...

Children can bypass age verification procedures in popular social media apps by lying

Children of all ages can completely bypass age verification measures to sign-up to the world’s most popular social media apps including Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype and Discord by simply lying about their age, researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software have discovered. And even potential age verification solutions...

One in four adults say that they are likely to participate in online exercise classes

One in four Irish adults say they are likely to participate in an online exercise class in the future, according to a nationwide survey by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. Lero, a world-leading research organisation and home to Ireland’s first esports research lab, commissioned RED C Research to conduct the survey....

Lero researchers presented with awards for research excellence

Two Lero researchers received NUI Galway President’s Awards for Research Excellence. Dr Eoin Whelan received a Research Supervisor Award. Eoin is a Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems at NUI Galway. His research explores the psychology underlying engagement with interactive digital media such as smartphones, social networking sites, fitness tracking apps, and online gambling and gaming...