David O'Meara, Managing Director of Havok
The Irish Government has committed itself to making Ireland a ‘smart economy’ in preparation for the eventual turnaround and it is not alone in this aim. So what must be done to secure the country’s future as a high-tech player internationally?
With Eastern European and Asian countries now cheaper than Ireland, like many other countries, sees its future in the high-end technology sector where knowledge rather than cheap manpower is key. Such a shift will put an end to a reliance on individual investors such as Dell or Intel, however there about questions around the country’s readiness for such a shift.
“We’re still lagging behind [in terms of broadband infrastructure] and it’s going to take some time for that to change,” says Liam O’Kelly, managing director of AirSpeed Ireland which operates a radio-based telecommunications network across Ireland. “There are what I would call shortcuts being taken to make us catch up quicker but they really haven’t been a great success.”
While some advances have been made in recent years Ireland still ranks below the European average when it comes to broadband. Availability is not the only issue, however, as the quality of connections in broadband-ready areas is also low.
According to Mr. O’Kelly the problem in Ireland is not so much the lack of a unified broadband network but the lack of a coherent and practical plan to tie the numerous existing networks together.
“Some plans see a certain amount of bandwidth being put into an area but there is no real foresight into how this will improve over time, if they are enough for businesses in the area and so on,” says Mr. O’Kelly. “I think it’s about having a cohesive plan that prioritises different technologies for different situations and has them all working together.
“I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a ubiquitous service model and we need to ensure the various technologies on offer fit together and fill the gaps.”
A national network of reliable, high-speed connections would put Ireland on a par with its worldwide neighbours, attracting investment far easier than before. Of course connectivity is only one piece of the puzzle and a good broadband network is useless if the right staff are not there to use it effectively.
Irish company Havok, which produces software for the games and movie industries, has done its best over the years to hire indigenous workers and currently bases half of its project operations in this country. Its CEO David O’Meara says the country’s education system is good but not great and more must be done if it is to rise above average in the coming years.
“We are doing an awful lot of work here – we have three development teams based in Dublin which is substantial and I would like to do more in Dublin if I found enough of the right people,” he says. “It’s not a case of the Irish education system being a complete failure but the quality is about average by European standards.”
According to Mr. O’Meara the need to move up the food chain is vital given the push by other countries to develop a knowledge economy too. As the standard as a whole rises, what is classed as average now will become poor very quickly.
“The USA and other countries are talking about better skilled workers too so the competition is getting tougher – there won’t be as little competition again as there is now.”
While it may not be the easiest answer, Mr. O’Meara believes the focus should be on institutional reform from primary level all the way to the universities.
“At the moment there’s more money in researching than in lecturing, I think focus needs to be put back on the quality of the teaching as we need to ensure the students coming through are getting thought by the best,” he says. “At primary and secondary level teachers need to be held accountable like they would be in any business – we need to be sure they’re engaging the students in the right way.”
“Simple acts like this would make the quality of the system far better – I wouldn’t see the point of spending more money on improving education until these reforms were done.”
At the very least this kind of improvement does not need huge investment; the same cannot be said for the country’s infrastructure.
“The Government need to put more money forward and engage better with the industry so we can connect the various networks together,” says Mr. O’Kelly. “It’s going to be hard and it’s going to take time and money to do it but we must.”
The onus is not entirely on the Government, however. Mr. O’Meara suggests that even the best idea and the right investment can all go wrong if businesses do not develop the right practices and attitude.
“It doesn’t matter how good the people coming in are if the right business model isn’t there – that’s possibly more important than the product,” he says. “There has to be the right vision, the right pace and the right use of resources in order to make things work and it’s not the same as it would be in the regional office of a large multi-national.”
Unfortunately he believes this kind of discipline is better learned first-hand than thought but that more people in Ireland now have the skills and knowledge to develop their companies properly.
“I learned what I know from working in the US and Europe for many years but there are a lot of people in Ireland coming from places like Havok that will hopefully take the same attitude with them and it will spread from there,” he says. “It takes time, though.”
An edited version of this article appeared in Business & Finance magazine on the 26th February 2009.
No related posts.
