Dr. Donna O’Shea

Donna O’Shea is Head of Department of Computer Science at Cork Institute of Technology, Funded Investigator at the SFI research centres CONNECT and ENABLE and group lead of Ríomh – Intelligent Secure Systems research group and member of Nimbus Research Centre.

Donna’s research expertise lies in the area of enterprise security (i.e. SDN and NFV security) and network and service management with a specific focus on the design, analysis and optimisation of wired and wireless communication systems, networks and services. During her PhD she made a significant contribution in the area of service provisioning for Beyond 3rd Generation (B3G) networks. On completion of her PhD she spent five years working for IBM and this work exposed her to the rigorous design discipline that is a prerequisite for the successful development of large, complex systems across several sites, multiple design teams and various target platforms. The work in IBM also deepened her technical knowledge in the area of network and service management for mobile and Cloud based services.

Donna has been a central figure in establishing the IDA funded National Cybersecurity Cluster called Cyber Ireland the goal of which is to ensure that Ireland is well positioned both to service the already significant activities in the area of cybersecurity research and innovation and to build excellence and talent that will enable further growth in this expanding field.

Donna is director of IT@Cork a not-for-profit independent business organisation representing the interests of the IT industry in Cork, is chair of the Computing Department’s research studies committee and is a committee member of IEEE UK Ireland Women in Engineering and is an IEEE Senior Member.