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Like many other industry groups in Ireland, Forfas' National Competitiveness Council said it is concerned about the limited availability and the high cost of broadband for small businesses here. The group is also worried about what it characterised as the government's disjointed approach to the development of the knowledge economy and Ireland's Information Society.
Subsequently, the NCC has launched an action plan to address these issues. The group's plan is designed to accelerate e-business take-up in Ireland and to drive the development and roll-out of broadband. The plan is also designed to sustain Ireland's international reputation as a leading digital society and knowledge economy.
The first element of this plan was to call on Ireland's new government to appoint an E-Minister who would have the power to promote and maintain Ireland's e-business and Information Society goals. The group suggests that the proposed minister would be assigned under the Department of the Taoiseach with cross-departmental authority, and could co-ordinate actions under the recently established Cabinet Committee on the Information Society.
This minister would also oversee the implementation of the National Broadband Investment Initiative and would look after the work of a National Broadband Planning Body, if established. The NCC envisions that he or she would also co-ordinate e-government initiatives including the Reach agency and the government's e-procurement strategy.
The National Broadband Planning Body that the Council speaks of would also be a new organisation, which, according to the NCC, would manage, and co-ordinate the National Broadband Investment Initiative to see broadband technology become more accessible to homes and small businesses.
Other initiatives proposed by the NCC included the development of Ireland's Internet exchanges to world class standards, the increase of competition on backbone data networks and the transpondance of all EU telecom directives related to the Information Society.
The NCC has also called on the government to promote wireless technologies, issue national regulations for road opening by telecom operators and extend universal service to always-on Internet access, namely ISDN.
"While recognising that much has been achieved, there is no room for complacency if Ireland is to keep pace with competitor countries," Brian Patterson, chairman of the NCC, said in a statement. "Throughout the world, governments are putting new policies into place to capture the exceptional opportunities for economic and social progress that e-business provides. Ireland has the capacity to harness these opportunities fully for all its citizens, if our institutional structures are aligned with, and are capable of responding quickly and effectively," he added.
The NCC is not the first organisation to call for an e-minister. Both ALTO (the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators) and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce have made similar requests to the government, hoping to address the same issues as the NCC.
The National Competitiveness Council, a government agency, reports to the Taoiseach on competitiveness issues for the Irish economy. Forfas, the national policy and advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation, provides the Council's secretariat.
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