Getting connected - Digital Ireland

SOME years ago the EU offered a substantial reward to anyone who could come up with a good definition of what peripherality really meant so decisions could be made about the level of supports offered to various regions.

Though this idea is far easier to feel than express, the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index, released yesterday, confirms what many businesses and stay-at-home workers know: Peripherality has a real, limiting cost in an ever more joined-up world.

But things are improving, broadband connectivity, so long the bane of Irish people, rose from 16th place to 13th in the last year. The index notes that while 96% of Irish households enjoy fixed broadband, this is below EU norms. Even more significantly our fixed broadband costs are almost double the EU average — an exploitative situation that can probably be seen as a direct consequence of peripherality.

The report also identified a chicken-or-egg dilemma. The commission found that we lag behind most EU member states on digital skills. We are almost in the bottom quarter of the 28 member states, ranked in eighth. This situation is partly a consequence of our, up to now at least, poor broadband services but also hints a Luddite lack of digital adventure in far too many Irish people. This indifference may be confined to older age groups but if it is not, then we need to resolve the issue and encourage greater participation.