Irish start-up Davra Networks and Swiss firm Orbiwise have won contracts to work with the Connect Centre at Trinity College Dublin to roll out its internet of things (IoT) network nationwide.

Pervasive Nation is a new IoT research infrastructure to facilitate academic research and the testing of precommercial ideas by Irish companies. The project was awarded €1.8 million in funding by Science Foundation Ireland earlier this year.

Pervasive Nation is based largely on the use of low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology, which allows long-range communication at a low bit rate among connected objects.

Designed and managed by the Connect Centre, the network will allow new IoT concepts, business models and devices to be developed and tested. Pervasive Nation is to be initially rolled out across 10 third-level campuses, but will eventually be available nationwide.

Orbiwise is to supply network management software for the network while Davra Networks will provide the platform for application enablement and data management. Both firms were awarded the contracts with Connect following a competitive tendering process.

The IoT is the generic term generally used to describe a world in which everyday items are connected to the internet. Gartner estimates that some 21 billion devices will be connected by 2020 with a global economic impact measured in trillions of dollars.

“Davra Networks and Orbiwise are significant global IoT influencers. Davra’s RuBAN recently won best overall platform at the IoT Evolution expo in Las Vegas while the spectral efficiency of Orbiwise’s UbiQ LPWAN platform is very impressive. These innovative technologies are ideal for the Pervasive Nation network as we create the IoT future here in Ireland,” said Prof Linda Doyle, director of Connect.

Connect is a multi-institute research centre headquartered at Trinity College Dublin with researchers at Cork Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, Dublin Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick, TSSG at Waterford Institute of Technology and Tyndall National Institute, Cork.

*This article was amended on 02/09/2016