Strong opportunities exist for Ireland to become the European leader in the high growth multimedia arena in the next 12 to 18 months.

A three-day conference which concluded in Dublin Castle yesterday highlighted how Ireland could overtake its European rivals by preparing the ground for digital video disk (DVD) - a compact disk version of the video cassette.

The DVD market, which is expected to be worth $13 billion (#12 billion) globally by 2006, is already growing rapidly in the US where more than one million DVD players have been installed. But its progress in the European market has been dogged by an inability to arrive at an international standard for the technology.

More than 250 representatives from the film, software and hardware industries attending the second annual DVD summit debated the issues facing DVD in Europe. These included problems with localising high quality films for different cultures and languages throughout Europe, reaching an international standard for DVD recording formats, and the need to educate retailers about DVD so that they can better inform the consumer.

Europe has been lagging the US, where more than 5,000 film titles are expected to be available on DVD by the end of this year, because the US market is controlling the deployment of DVD players and films. Europe must wait for the US - known as Region 1 - to release its digital versions of films, before Europe and Asia - known as Region 2 - can localise films for its various markets.

According to Mr John Barker, chairman of the DVD summit: "In most cases, the US owns the intellectual property surrounding DVD. What they need is help from the EU to localise content for the European market. Ireland is in a terrific position to provide that gateway."

A number of Irish companies are engaged in DVD activities, though progress is slow. DV4, a Dublin based multimedia company, has already been approached by a US film distributor to localise six of its movies for the European region. Typical activities would including writing French or German menus, graphics and subtitles - and seeking to offer the package at a cheaper rate than its British counterparts.

"It's only a matter of time before the different standards will have to be dropped," says Mr Graeme Kelly of DV4. "So many people here are expressing a desire to come to Ireland. No one has been trying to sell them anything, yet there is a real buzz about coming here."

This view was echoed by a number of conference speakers and attendees. Ms Jennifer Condon, director of the Irish National Software Directorate, pointed to Ireland's competitive cost environment, low corporation tax, skilled workforce and English language base as significant contributing factors to a potentially vibrant DVD industry here.

Award winning Italian producer, Mr Dante Cecchin, said he was in the process of establishing an international consortium which would produce DVD for the various European markets. "I would like to base it out of Dublin, where an interactive crew can work in tandem with international film crews. Ireland has good actors, music and locations which offers a very good mix."

Returned emigrant, Mr Martin Fitzgerald, left his job as a DVD consultant with Abbey Road Productions in Britain, where he created the DVD versions of Mr Bean, Madonna, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac DVD features. He believes Ireland only has a window of opportunity within the next year to offer the US complete DVD services.

Mr Gerry Clarke, project officer for international services at Enterprise Ireland, shared this view: "Now is the time Irish companies should be looking much more closely at this technology."