The west is hosting a "mobile communications international summit" this week. The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Commerce, Mr Noel Treacy, is to open the four-day conference in Galway this morning.
Ericsson, Nortel Networks, Analog Devices, Parthus Technologies, Ossidian and Websat Ltd are among the leading Irish companies participating in the "summit", which is being organised by Enterprise Ireland. The aim of the gathering is to look at the next wave of integrated mobile technologies - or "fourth generation" mobile systems. The European Commission's director general of DG-INFSO, Mr Robert Verrue, will give an official address.
Also today, a leading electronics design services company, Silicon and Software Systems (S3), will mark the expansion of its high-tech facility in the west of Ireland. S3 is described as one of the top three design houses in Europe, and employs over 300 people in Dublin, Galway, Cork, and at its design centres in Poland and the Czech Republic. It is extending its Galway facility at Ballybrit Business Park as part of its regional growth strategy.
Last week, Enterprise Ireland called for "faster action" in relation to e-commerce - which the Government has said it is committed to developing. E-mail and "brochure" websites are no longer sufficient, and few companies appreciate the impact that electronic commerce is already having across Europe, Mr Graham O'Keeffe, eBusiness manager with Enterprise Ireland, told a conference in Furbo, Co Galway, hosted by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).
Enterprise Ireland's own survey this summer found that 55 per cent of its client base had a website; some 26 per cent of clients regarded e-business as an urgent priority; 15 per cent could attribute sales last year to the development of their website; 17 per cent of customers had insisted on electronic communication; and 11 per cent of suppliers were moving to electronic trading.
However, when asked if clients' business plans had been redesigned to facilitate e-business, a resounding 79 per cent said "no".
The BIM conference, which was attended by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, focused on electronic trading for the seafood sector. This is already the subject of a pilot project, "Smartfish", initiated by the board. Fish quality is tied in to e-commerce success, the conference heard, and e-commerce is unavoidable - "like moving from sail to steam", one visiting skipper who runs an on-board system said.
Electronic auctioning has already been initiated in Northern Ireland by Pan-European Fish Auctions, and both it and its competitor, Schelfout Computer Systems, have been trying to woo Irish fishing co-operatives. Mr Pat Keogh, BIM's chief executive, said it was no harm if Ireland was a bit behind, as the industry could learn from the mistakes of others.
However, BIM's view was that e-trading systems had the potential to alleviate the acute fragmentation associated with the high number of co-operatives and other entities involved in the first sale of fish. The board wants to explore the scope for setting up an "electronic network or cluster" of interested Irish co-operatives and selling entities, Mr Keogh said.
