Address by Mr Noel Treacy TD Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce At the launch of e-Business Masterclasses At 1 pm on 29th September 2000 In the Great Southern Hotel, Eyre Square, Galway.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet the first group of participants at the E.Business Masterclasses. I hope you found the morning productive and useful.

To-day’s event was the first in a series of ten seminars or master classes, which have been organised by our Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, in conjunction with the Information Society Commission and IBEC. The masterclasses will take place right around the country between now and Christmas.

The most recent survey from the Information Society Commission shows that Irish business has a high rate of technology adoption and familiarity with new technologies. Ninety-six percent of Irish companies have access to the Internet, while 77% of Irish businesses have a website. This shows that we are moving some way from e-commerce awareness to e-commerce adoption.

Nevertheless, small and medium sized enterprises still lag behind. There is still work to be done and targeted initiatives such as the masterclasses and other such initiatives being undertaken by our Department’s agencies, including Enterprise Ireland and the city and county enterprise boards, have been designed to assist SMEs to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the development of e.business.

For small business, the Internet offers a real opportunity to compete on equal terms with larger organisations, as it offers

• low operating costs
• the ability to do business around the clock, and
• the opportunity to build relationships with existing and new customers.

The masterclasses will assist SME’s to apply the appropriate technologies to enhance their business capabilities.

The masterclasses, in turn, are just one element in a strategy devised by the Government to ensure that Ireland - and Irish business - is in a position to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Information Society.

Our Government has signed a major deal with Global Crossing, which provides Ireland with International Broadband capacity which is 15 times larger than its current capacity. This network will connect Ireland to 36 European Cities and to the United States. Another connectivity initiative is the 360 Networks Atlantic project. It is the first Transatlantic fibre optic cable to land directly here in Ireland and will offer direct connectivity between most North American and European Cities. These are milestones in our development as an Information Society and ensure our place on the global playing field.

In a further initiative, the Government has ensured that the benefits of the information age will be made available to all citizens, by rolling out broadband fibre optic cable to over 120 towns, touching on 21 counties. This roll out is due to be completed by 31 December of this year.

The investment in infrastructure by us will complement an important e-business initiative by our Government in the public procurement sector, which accounts for half of all purchases in this country. This £16bn market will be brought on-line, enabling business, both large and small to access opportunities in this area. This project will be built incrementally starting with a regional pilot public procurement site. The process will commence early next month.

Ireland has made considerable progress in a short period of time towards our objective of making Ireland an e.commerce and e.business hub. My Government colleague, Mrs. Mary O’Rourke, T.D., Minister for Public Enterprise, brought the Electronic Commerce Act into force last week. The Act facilitates electronic business transactions by creating a secure legal framework in which to carry out business using the powerful tool of the Internet. We are one of the first countries in the world to give broad legal recognition to information and communications in electronic form and to extend this recognition to almost all areas of law, business and public administration. Further legislation now being prepared by our Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, will provide a further boost to e.business by underpinning the legal right to trade electronically across EU borders.

I would urge all businesses to avail of the opportunity presented by these significant developments, which will ensure that SME’s, in particular, in every part of the country can benefit from the opportunities presented by the Information Society.

I would like to thank all of those who have assisted our Department in getting this important new initiative off the ground, in particular Siobhan Masterson from IBEC and Ann Boyle from Peopletech, and their staffs. I would also like to thank the presenters, Marie Redmond of Xcommunications, Fergal O’Byrne of Webusters and Keith Bohanna of Lonan Consulting.