In recent years, the Department of Signal Theory and Communications has made a significant impact on the region. This is largely due to the fact that the Catalan government has opened two new research centres: the Telecommunications Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTTC) and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), which the Department has done its utmost to promote. Furthermore, its members of staff have directed these centres and conducted research for them. The Department has also collaborated in the research carried out at the Centre for Language and Speech Technologies and Applications (TALP), the Centre for Advanced Broadband Communications (CCABA) and the Institute of Geomatics (IG).