Building the Knowledge Society - Department of Communications ...

6 Building the Knowledge Society Information Society CommissionIt is a further feature of the knowledge economy that it increasingly relies on the diffusionand use of information and knowledge, as well as its creation. The success of enterprises, andof national economies, becomes increasingly dependent on the information infrastructurethat is necessary for the gathering and utilisation of knowledge. The importance of broadbandtelecommunications infrastructure in this context must be recognised as no less significantthan the importance of electricity to 20th century industrial development.Knowledge has become the key resource. Knowledge has value, but so too does knowledgeabout knowledge. Creating value is about creating new knowledge and capturing its value.The most important property is now intellectual property, not physical property. And it is thehearts and minds of people, rather than traditional labour, that are essential to growth andprosperity. Workers at all levels in the 21st century knowledge society will need to be lifelonglearners, adapting continuously to changed opportunities, work practices, business models andforms of economic and social organisation.In this changing environment, holding the status quo is not an option. We move forwards andembrace the conditions necessary to underpin higher value economic activity, better jobs, andnew social prosperity. Or we prepare to fall into relative decline.2\ Ireland’s Strengths and WeaknessesRelative StrengthsIreland’s relative strengths in addressing the challenges of the emerging knowledge societyare as follows:• Our relatively small size as a country enables us to respond quickly to new developments, andthis has been a key factor in underpinning our competitiveness and economic success to date.• The Cabinet Committee on the Information Society, and the appointment of Ms Mary HanafinTD as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility for theInformation Society, give us the policy framework needed to coordinate and drive forwardthis agenda at the highest level of Government.• The Broadband Strategy approved by Government in March 2002 reflects a new level ofpublic policy engagement with the underlying importance of broadband as a key 21st centuryinfrastructure, and is being underpinned by the appointment of the new Commission forCommunications Regulation (ComReg).• The €2.5b investment in R&D that is being supported through the National DevelopmentPlan (2000-2006) reflects a new commitment to the importance of an advanced science andtechnology base, and recognition by Government that sources of competitive advantage willincreasingly depend on knowledge-based innovation.• The establishment of Science Foundation Ireland to administer the Technology ForesightFund will underpin the creation of a critical mass of world-class research in niche areas ofICTs and Biotechnology and is widely acknowledged as a key and strategically progressivepublic policy initiative.