IN ADDITION to “An Bord Snip” we now needed “An Bord Smart” to promote the creation of the smart economy in Ireland, the MacGill Summer School was told last night.
Michael Fitzgerald, managing director of Abtran, a Cork-based business process outsourcing company, said: “If Colm McCarthy isn’t too exhausted he should be immediately appointed to set up and chair the new board.”
There were opportunities to develop the smart economy in “biomedical and life sciences, green energy, technology, tourism, food and the smart delivery of services”.
The economy at present was interdependent, but not integrated: “Our public services are dependent on our banking system. Our health services are dependent on our enterprise and business sectors creating value.
“Our enterprises are dependent on our education system. And all are interdependent. We are dependent but not integrated, and until we are, we will not create a smart economy.
“We need smart integration to have a truly smart economy and a sustainable solution to the current challenges.”
The success of a university “should no longer be based on measuring the line of PhDs being produced,” he said.
“This smart-integration can deliver improved public services at lower cost.”
The school also heard how the Irish banking crisis developed, in a lecture by RTÉ business editor David Murphy, co-author with Martina Devlin of the book Banksters.
Prof Fridrik Baldursson of the University of Reykjavik outlined the development of the economic crisis in his country, in a talk entitled The Difference Between Ireland and Iceland.
