How Connect is finding new ways for data to speak to society 8 seconds ago1 View Prof Dan Kilper. Image: Connect Sam Cox discovers the future of networks of all shapes and sizes being investigated at the Connect research centre in Trinity College Dublin. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the critical significance of internet connectivity to the fore. With millions stuck at home, communications networks have become appreciated as an essential utility. Connectivity to the internet has allowed continued communication, work and entertainment amid broad restrictions on movement. These communication networks are the focus of the research carried out by Connect, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre for future networks and communications. Headquartered in Trinity College Dublin and with researchers across nine other higher education institutes, Connect’s focus on reliable, sustainable and dependable networks in all of their forms has contributed to its recent success in attracting significant renewed public investment for the next six years.