Dublin should be knowledge city - report

Dublin needs  to equip itself as a base for high-quality jobs by investing in research and infrastructure, according to a Dublin Chamber of Commerce report.

The Chamber makes ten recommendation that it believes will help the city compete with other cities for international investment and innovation projects.

At the publication of the report yesterday, Martin Murphy, managing director of HP Ireland and chairman of the committee that wrote the report, said the recommendations had been devised to compensate for the lack of Government leadership in the formation of a knowledge economy.

"Ireland's future lies in Dublin becoming a knowledge city with internationally recognised infrastructure, skills, productivity and competitiveness," he said.

To achieve this the report says the city needs to attract creative talent, improve its infrastructure and to brand Dublin as a knowledge city.

To encourage internationally recognised researchers to the city, the report recommends a targeted tax-relief scheme. "They have had a similar project in Amsterdam where they have been attracting high skilled workers using tax incentives", Mr Murphy said.

Chambers also calls for the transfer of key Government business services online and for free WiFi on all Dublin's public transport.

Dublin City Council had proposed making the entire city WiFi accessible, but the project was ruled out by the European Commission on state aid grounds.