Is Ireland ready to grasp the digital economy?

A recent report ranks Ireland in the top 25 of countries ready to make use of ICT to increase economic competitiveness. But we still fall short in many other areas, writes Paul O’Riordan.

Ireland’s digital economy is expected to be worth €21.1bn by 2020, making up some 10% of GDP and creating 150,000 jobs. With this in mind, it’s fair to say that Ireland’s economic future has never been more dependent on the digitisation of our native businesses. It is against this backdrop that the World Economic Forum launched its Global Information Technology Report for 2015 last week.

Issued annually, the forum monitors 143 countries to see how ready they are to make use of ICT to increase economic competitiveness and improve the wellbeing of citizens. The resulting Networked Readiness Index is a table detailing which countries are the most advanced in technology and, importantly, are in the best place to benefit from it.