Address by Mr. Noel Treacy, T.D.,Minister for Science, Technology and Commerceat the Launch of the E Region Initiative on 28 November 2000 at 11.00 a.m.in the County Arms Hotel, Birr, Co. Offaly

The challenges posed by the digital economy are not only technological but, to a large extent, strategic in nature. Ireland must ensure in the immediate future that not only are the basic infrastructural requirements put in place, but that the full potential of ICTs is realised for the benefit of enterprise and employment also.

The origins of the ERegion project were first conceived in 1996 in the form of ShIPP (the Shannon Regional Information Society Partnership Project). Its overall aim was to develop a complete Information Society Strategy and Action Plan for the Shannon Region over an eighteen-month period. This Plan, when implemented, would ensure that the region would be an active participant rather then a passive observer of the Information Society. Shannon Development and the Microelectronics Applications Centre Limited, Limerick (MAC) realised that Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) could be most beneficial to a region such as this, which has a large rural base and would require tremendous cohesion among all players in this region.

So, with support from the EU under the Regional Information Society Initiative (RISI) and working with 21 other regions across the European Union, Shannon Development and MAC gained the support of 24 key regional players and users in this region including, employers representatives, private sector organisations, community representatives, regional authorities, the Information Society Commission, FAS, the education sector, and telecommunications operators - all of whom came together to form the Steering Committee.

The resulting ShIPP Report was launched by my Government and Departmental colleague, Tánaiste, Mary Harney, TD, in April of last year. The Plan was very ambitious, and contained many recommendations and outline project recommendations which, if fully implemented, could involve a total investment in excess of IR£66 million (83.8 million)over a three year period.

Its strength lies in the fact that it addressed the six pillars of the Information Society and has examined the level of activity and the potential of each area. It has critiqued the

• Level of Awareness of the Information Society in this region and its overall potential;
• The Infrastructural capability in this region and how it should be improved;
• The level of Information Society activity in Enterprises and what they would need to do to equip themselves for the future;
• The extent of Community involvement and;
• The contribution being made by the Public Services to the development of this region’s Information Society

This brings us to today and IT is now centre stage in the Shannon Region. All players are strategically focused on developing it to its optimal potential. Everyone involved in the development of this area is focused on attaining the ambitious goals set out in the ShIPP Action Plan.

There is now a very high level of interaction and synergy among the key players in the Information Society, this Shannon Region. Consequently, it can now be described as one of the foremost eRegions in Ireland. In order to further accelerate the progress and focus the task ahead this project has been given a new name - the eRegion project. This name clearly denotes its mission:

‘Proactively promoting, adopting and implementing the Information Society in the Shannon Region, so that it will make a distinctive and innovative contribution to increasing growth potential and maximising good quality sustainable employment and improving the quality of life for all of this region’s citizens.’

Over the next two years eRegion will coordinate and evaluate the implementation of the ShIPP Action Plan to ensure the socio-economic benefits are optimized in each of the six Action areas. The Steering Committee are monitoring the progress of the four Flagship projects, and are focussing on the areas of Awareness, Infrastructure, Learning and the Public Services domain, which in many ways are the building blocks for developing a proactive Information Society Culture.

I recently had the pleasure of launching a new contract which East Clare Telecottage has secured with Prime Learning in Limerick. East Clare Telecottage has played a major part in the development of Teleworking in Ireland and in particular in the East Clare Region. ECT is actively involved in the Shannon eRegion project and is a glowing example of the benefits of the eRegion project in terms of the development of the Information Society in this region.

These projects include:

1. The Ennis Information Age Town project - which is creating major awareness of the impact and potential of IT; it continues to be the largest community technology project in the world, with business community and resident IT programmes. Ennis Information Age Town has had a huge impact on the Information Society, not just locally in the Ennis area, but also at a regional level.
2. The development by Shannon Development of technology nodes in the key centres in this region - Limerick, Tralee, Thurles, Ennis and here in Birr. These technology nodes, when fully developed will ensure that enterprises in this region have access to high-speed broadband services at affordable levels
3. The Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute whose ethos is to bring education, training and development directly to people in rural communities and to support rural-based businesses using ICT. Education and access to education is obviously paramount to the Information Age. There is little point in attracting and creating Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-based companies in this region if there are insufficient skilled employees to fill the positions created. In this regard, and through TRBDI, the eRegion project is highlighting and addressing this need, targeting all levels of education and thus embedding the Information Society concept at a very young age. This is a key objective of the Government’s IT2000 Programme for all of our schools at every level.
4. The TITAN Digital Site Project (Tactical Integration of Telematics Applications across Intelligent Networks) which will make it easier for everyone in this region to navigate public information and interactive services.

   These are some examples of the types of initiatives in which the eRegion project is involved. Over the next two years, this work will continue. At the same time, the Steering Committee will look at the many actions items put forward in the overall Plan, will undertake feasibility studies and preparatory work to facilitate their implementation, and will take on additional action items that continue to emerge as the Information Society evolves. Shannon Development are in the middle of the implementation phase of eRegion at present. Significant achievements have been made to date on the plan which allows Shannon to call itself the eRegion of this country.

   The ERegion project will focus specifically on initiatives which have been included in the National Development Plan, particularly those with a community and enterprise development focus. Only those projects that are technically, financially and economically feasible will ultimately be undertaken, thereby guaranteeing success. Once again, this illustrates the commitment to the overall project aim - to proactively promote, adopt and implement the Information Society in the Shannon Region, so that it will make a distinctive and innovative contribution to increasing growth potential, maximising good quality sustainable employment and improving the quality of life for all of this region’s citizens.

   The eRegion project is of course part of the wider country-wide progress towards promoting the Information Society. In keeping with the Information Society Action Plan, this Government is taking decisive action in the following areas to ensure our global competitiveness in the new digital economy:

• In telecommunications, the Global Crossing and 360 Networks broadband connectivity projects will provide Ireland with low cost broadband connectivity throughout this country. This Government has spent £50m on 13 broadband projects to increase connectivity throughout Ireland. Under Ireland’s National Development Plan this Government is providing a further £150m to develop communications and e commerce infrastructure in Ireland. Legislation is to be introduced shortly which will bring forward the unbundling of the local loop, thus driving competition and reducing prices.
• In education and skills, over £400m has been allocated to various educational initiatives, including 5,400 new third level college places in high technology courses and an extra 1,500 postgraduate places in the ICT area. A £10m Enterprise Ireland initiative and a £3m City and County Enterprise Boards initiative have been initiated to help Irish SMEs develop the appropriate skills to successfully harness the full potential of the new information and communication technologies.
• Our Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, the Information Society Commission, (ISC) and IBEC have recently launched an e.business information and education campaign targeted at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
• On the regulatory front the E- Commerce Act, 2000 and the Copyright Act, 2000, provide a secure regulatory framework that both enables e-commerce and promotes and encourages growth in this area.
• In the area of Research and Development the recently launched £560m Technology Foresight Fund will be used to establish Ireland as a location for world class research excellence in niche areas within ICT’s and Biotechnology. Science Foundation Ireland, a new national Foundation, which was launched by us in July, last, is administering the Technology Foresight Fund and its first competitive call for proposals has already been launched. We are on track for decisions in the new year.
• In relation to eGovernment, the Reach initiative through which electronic services will be made available to the citizen and to business and the Revenue Commissioners on line system (ROS) were launched in September, last. Our Department is currently developing an on line service for all interactions between business and Government. This exciting new project is entitled BASIS.

This project which we are launching today is a tremendous example of both public and private partnership in action. With the continued support and commitment of so many key players, I am confident that Shannon Development and MAC will ensure that this eRegion project will achieve its aim of enabling the Shannon Region attain a position as a global leader in the Information Society. I certainly look forward to working closely with this project during its implementation phase.