Dublin Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí speaks at Dublin City Hall yesterday
To coincide with the Digital Agenda Assembly in Dublin this week, yesterday saw the launch of the Digital Masterplan for Dublin at City Hall by Dublin Lord Mayor Mr Naoise Ó Muirí and European Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes. As he prepares to leave office on Monday, Ó Muirí spoke to Ann O’Dea about his aspirations for the masterplan.
Initiated by Dublin City Council, the masterplan is designed to be “a roadmap for the smart economy and society” in the Dublin region. It has been developed in co-operation with the Digital Leadership Forum, and it sets out seven “big ticket” actions.We took the opportunity to talk to Ó Muirí.
One key element of the masterplan is the development of the Digital Maturity Scorecard (DMS), an analytical tool to benchmark Dublin’s digital performance internationally. Intel, Maynooth’s Innovation Value Institute and Dublin City University developed the scorecard.
Watch the interview with Dublin Lord Mayor Mr Naoise Ó Muirí below:
Interview: Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí at the launch of the Digital Masterplan for Dublin
Digital Masterplan: seven “big ticket” actions:
The first action is to provide a minimum of 100MB speed fibre broadband to every home in the Dublin region by Easter 2016. Fast, reliable and cost-competitive broadband infrastructure is critical to the development of Dublin as a smart city region and an ICT hub for Europe. The aim is that fibre in the home should be as easy as buying shelves in your local DIY.
The second action is the development of a flagship Digital Accelerator District (DAD) programme. This programme aims to build on existing digital hotspots and initiatives in Dublin, including Launchbox.ie; Dogpatch Labs and the Digital Hub, amongst others.
The third action is to support improved ways of working between multinationals and indigenous SMEs. The Digital Masterplan outlines the need for indigenous SMEs to enter the supply chain of multinational corporations in order to deliver a substantial expansion of e-commerce trading and digital business. This plan proposes to partner with the SME representative organisations (ISME, IIA, SFA, Chamber of Commerce) to develop a web-based portal for Dublin-based multinationals to auction packages of digital/innovation/R&D work to the local SME market.
The fourth action is an online ‘Dublin Storefront’ project. This will involve the activation and expansion of work already being undertaken by other organisations in developing an online presence and the use of digital systems by Irish business. There is a requirement to build on this work and create an e-commerce and digital adoption support platform targeting businesses in the non-ICT sector, such as food, hotels, construction and other small start-ups. This work will facilitate the development of a globally promoted digital ‘Created in Dublin’ brand.
The fifth action is to create a network of digital cities, where ideas are generated and shared, involving a remodelling of the Citieslinked.com website and targeted at sister cities.
The sixth action is a commitment by Dublin City Council to make information in relation to all services available as digital.
The seventh action involves the commitment by local and national Government to establish programmes to support the development of digital skills in communities, Government organisations, young people and adults.
More videos and reports from the Digital Agenda Assembly can be found on our dedicated site.
