IT conference in Cork on Thursday. Lobbying Opportunity

timod

Hi All,


FYI there's a conference in Jurys Hotel in Cork on Thursday.

It's being organised by the Commerce and Economics Society of UCC, and it's €15 for students. - I don't know how much it is for normal people

Anyway, there are a couple of big names, (see below) so it might be a good opportunity to bring up a few of our points.

BTW, 2 free pints, free lunch and more with the ticket....

Tim


Details are:

8.30 - 9.00 Registration


Morning Session

Chaired by Mr Simon Coveney, T.D.

9.15 - 9.30 Introduction – Mr J.J. Cahill, Conference Director
Opening Address - Professor Gerard Wrixon, President, UCC

9.30 - 9.55 Mr Jim Power, Chief Investment Strategist, Friends First
9.55 - 10.20 Mr Michael Crowley, Economist, Bank of Ireland
10.20 - 10.45 Mr Pat Maher, Executive Director, Enterprise Ireland
10.45 - 10.55 Chairperson’s Summation
10.55 - 11.15 Open Forum


~~~~~11.15 - 11.45: Tea / Coffee ~~~~~



Mid-Morning Session

Chaired by Mr Michael Noonan, T.D.

11.45 - 12.10 Dr Chris Horn, Chairman, Iona Technologies
12.10 - 12.35 Mr Joe Gantly, Managing Director, Apple Computers
12.35 – 13.00 Mr Kevin Dillon, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Europeans Operations
13.00 – 13.10 Chairperson’s Summation
13.10 – 13.30 Open Forum
13.30 – 13.40 Auditor’s Address – Mr Shane O’Keeffe


~~~~~13.40-14.55: Lunch~~~~~


Afternoon Session

Chaired by Senator John Cregan

14.55 – 15.20 Mr Joe Kenny, President, Chamber of Commerce of Ireland
15.20 – 15.45 (To be confirmed)
15.45 – 15.55 Chairman’s Summation
15.55 – 16.05 Open Forum
16.05 - 16.10 Closing Address – Mr J.J. Cahill, Conference Director



16.30 – 17.45 Drinks Reception

MarcusGarvey

I might go..... not for all of it though.

timod

Right,

It's €100 for non students but it's quite negotiable

Can be got from JJ at 086-8309726

Tim

MarcusGarvey

eeek, thats way too much. Fuq that.

timod

I went to the conference anyway, it was very good, but it was an economic/European discussion, so it wasn't ideal from our standpoint.

The only relevant speech was Kevin Dillon's from Microsoft.
The theme of the speech was Irelands ability to keep up with the pack due to changing economic conditions in Europe.

Towards the end of the speech though, he did delve into communications.
mentioning that getting a competitive broadband infrastructure in place is crucial.

There was was a brief open forum at the end, and I put up my hand, to ask in particular about the Communications bill, and to through out "a tenth of the speed for ten times of the cost"

However, Simon Coveney (TD) beat me to it. He asked Mr. Dillon to expand on the broadband that he mentioned in his speech.

Mr. Dillon went on to talk about regulation, and getting that sorted out. He's positive about the regulatory issues being sorted out. Also mentioned about all the unlit fibre in country. His main point was hosting though, an that although, in terms of Legislation, we are the best place in the world, compared to say London or Amsterdam, it was not economical to host servers in Ireland, and that this was a negative factor in the future economic development of the country. Other points he mentioned were:
* It costs significantly more to send a bit from Cork to Dublin than from
Dublin to New York.
* No possibility of tele-working in Ireland.

There were only three questions in total allowed (time constraints) so unfortunatly I didn't get an opportunity to mention IOFFL or extend the debate to friaco or DSL.

The other two sessions in the conference were all economic in Nature. (You'll be delighted to hear that the general mood was positive )

Afterwards, I tried to find Simon Coveney and Michael Noonon, but they seemed to disappear. (I read afterwards in the evening paper down here, that they went electioneering around Cork...)

So basically the main thing that I took from this, is that we have a prominent young TD (Simon Coveney) who is deeply interested in this issue.

I understand that Adam has previously met with Simon, and it was nice to see that the message got through.

Cheers,

Tim

dahamsta

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the report. I would have liked to have gone, but it just wasn't going to happen, so I kept me mouth shut. I'm glad someone from IO was there though.

I understand that Adam has previously met with Simon, and it was nice to see that the message got through.

Yes I did, although it wasn't really public knowledge before you said it.

Yes, Simon is pretty keen on the issues, although we're going to have to flip what we've been discussing with him somewhat on its head now, as we reassess our priorities. I've left him somewhat up in the air recently though, so I'll be getting back in touch with him soon.

adam