On 1 May, I will be starting a round of high-level stakeholder consultations on behalf of the Institute of International & European Affairs on means to maintain Ireland’s competitive edge and the implications of change in the Digital Future. I anticipate the report being delivered to Government in September. Here below Peter Sutherland, Chairman of Goldman Sachs and of BP takes part in an initial consultation with me as part of the project. For information about this project, visit WWW.IIEA.COM/DIGITAL or contact me.
This brief report will be drafted on the basis of consultation with relevant stakeholders drawn largely from the EMEA headquarters, digital thought leaders, and Irish and EU policy officials. This report would seek to inform the policy community, with the benefit of insights drawn from the digital industry. The guiding principle is to produce an accessible report on options for maintaining competitive edge and implications of change in the Digital Future.
Process of stakeholder consultation and drafting
1 May
Meeting of Digital Future Group – presentation of the new 2008 E-Readiness Rankings by IBM Institute for Business Value.
Followed by short meeting to initiate the Digital Competitiveness Report
1 May-31 July
Project manager collects inputs from stakeholders across relevant sectors and drafts initial 16-32 page report
Ongoing
Monthly meetings of Digital Future Group, chaired by Chair or Vice Chairpersons depending on availability, at which global thought leaders are invited to speak to a group of digital stakeholders at luncheon roundtables. Previous guest speakers include Lawrence Sanger, co-Founder of Wikipedia; Linnar Viik, Estonian E-Governance Guru; Fabio Colasanti, Director General of European Commission DG Information & Media; and Jonathan Zittrain, founding member of the Harvard Law School Berkman Centre for Law & Society.
1 August – 31 August
Draft report sent to international expert review group
Early September
Project manager prepares final draft and submits for comment to Chair and Vice Chairs
End September / early October
Delivery to Government
Dr Johnny Ryan FRHistS 