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Ireland's digital economy

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  • 03-08-2012 7:38pm
    #1
    koHd
    Registered Users Posts: 1,142 ✭✭✭


    First off, let me state I am no economist. This thread is a naive attempt to learn and maybe even propose potential solutions to a problem.

    The Digital Hub have released a report detailing the fact that 75% of Ireland's online spending leaves the country;

    http://www.thejournal.ie/digital-hub-544546-Aug2012/#comment-534406

    With online shopping growing all the time, this poses a serious problem to the Irish economy. We can't afford to have that much of our cash heading abroad.

    So, what are we to do? The Digital Hub are proposing a national strategy.

    To the layman, the solution is obvious; prices to match or better the foreign retailers and we'll spend more at home. But getting that to be the case is not so obvious.

    Economies of scale work against a small island nation such as ourselves in the retail sector. Which leads to the term 'rip off Ireland'. Buy less, pay more. It's just a simple fact of the market.

    What are the possible solutions?

    One potential I was just thinking about was to lower the VAT drastically for certified Irish online retailers. 100% of the purchase staying in Ireland is surely better than 23% into the governments budget?

    The fact we have to import almost all of the goods, especially in the technology sector, is another obvious problem.

    Is there anything we can produce at home? One story that has inspired me recently is the one about the guy in Cellbridge making high quality wooden iPhone cases. A modern product, made with old fashioned material that is readily available directly from our land. Is there a potential 'green tech' economy we could tap into?

    Perhaps there's potential for a digital media distribution in Ireland?

    Again, forgive me for the naive approach to this. But the bug has bitten me.


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