Internet sector upbeat despite a hard year

CONFERENCE: "Froth" and "exuberance", those bywords of the headier days of the dotcoms, were nowhere to be found at this year's annual Irish Internet Association conference.

At last year's conference, presentations centred on those who had done well out of the boom cheerleading for the sector.

This year, a far more sombre group of about 100 internet business people gathered on Wednesday to hear generally cautious reports on the Irish, European and global economies. Experts such as Ms Christina Carroll of Ernst & Young offered advice on "managing in a downturn."

But far from being a gloomy report card on one of the more hard-hit corners of the technology industry, the conference offered nuts and bolts information on markets, business management and regulatory developments across Europe. In addition, panellists from the EU and Irish government offices were upbeat about the promise and benefits of e-government.

Speakers such as Mr Colm Regan, Forfás executive director, stressed the State's past successes: "We're the envy of many other countries, so we have many strengths on which to build."

But, with several others, he noted the Republic has been slow to support and finance a research and development environment, which Mr Jim Cuddy of Enterprise Ireland (EI) said was "imperative".

His EI colleague, Mr Michael Leahy, was harsher, noting that the business environment remains "tough" here, while Irish wages are increasing at the fastest rate in the EU.

The State is not as competitive as it should be, he said: "We still have serious deficiencies in our infrastructure. Critical elements of the National Development Plan are behind schedule."

He also said access to capital is "poor", especially seed capital, which stymies the development of new, small companies. He was concerned about the spread of high-speed internet access to the regions, as two-thirds of EI's client companies are located outside Dublin, one-third in towns of fewer than 3,000 people.

The economic and social goals of a digital "knowledge economy" need strong e-government initiatives, said several speakers. Mr Carlo Ennio Stasi of the EU stressed the main tasks that lie ahead to achieve an "e-Europe".

These include the full liberalisation of the telecoms market, the creation of a fast, broadband infrastructure, the introduction of e-government, the creation of secure networks and support for mobile communications.

On the other hand, Mr Colm Butler of the Taoiseach's Department reminded listeners that "e" doesn't really mean IT [information technology\]" but instead is "about delivering quality services to match customer expectations".

However, Ernst & Young's Ms Carroll offered a ray of light for worried entrepreneurs. The world's economy "is really not that dire", she said, noting that average investment deals by venture capitalists are 44 per cent larger than last year. Only "quality deals" are getting funded, she said - arguing that this is often the sign of an economic upturn.