Hanafin, Information Society Minister addresses British-Irish Council in Jersey

Dangger

From The Department of the Taoiseach

14-06-02 Information Society Minister addresses British-Irish Council in Jersey


Ms Mary Hanafin TD, the Governments Information Society Minister, today (Friday, June 14th, 2002) emphasised the importance of public policy initiatives to ensure that Irelands development as an Information Society is inclusive, thereby avoiding the emergence of a digital divide.



Minister Hanafin was speaking at the third Summit meeting of the British-Irish Council, held in Jersey today. The main focus of the Summit was the Knowledge Economy, and plans for taking forward co-operation in this area within the British-Irish Council, established under the Good Friday Agreement.

Ensuring development of an inclusive Information Society has become a public policy priority. It is increasingly evident that our approach must extend beyond raising awareness and providing points of public access to the Internet, Minister Hanafin said.

Measures are needed to build the capacity necessary to support inclusive Information Society development, and to actively promote participation among late adopters of new technologies, she added.

The magnitude of the transformation to a knowledge economy points to a need for leadership, cohesion and a firm anchor at a political level, said the Minister.

The Information Society agenda cuts across all areas of economic and social policy, and affects many people in their lives in education, at work or as individuals. There is a clear need to ensure that there is compatibility between what the many stakeholders are doing, and to take an all-of-Government perspective. We need to relate what we do to real people who have real needs, she stressed.


Minister Hanafin drew attention to the range of measures being taken forward under New Connections, the Governments Action Plan on the Information Society, and the strong focus on projects designed to further e-inclusion objectives.

These include the CAIT (Community Access to Information Technology), Equalskills, and Universal Participation initiatives, as well as the new National IT Accessibility Guidelines. She emphasised her commitment to progressing this agenda across Government in her role as Minister with responsibility for Information Society development.

Promoting inclusion is a key priority of the new Government Action Plan. We recognise that investments in Information Society projects will only be maximised if everybody has access to them, concluded Minister Mary Hanafin T.D.

ENDS
JUNE 14, 2002

MDR

Is she insane, its all well and good to talk about E*Services, and hurray look what we are doing, but peeps can't afford to access them, its bit like building a library and only opening it once a week for half an hour ... doh!

Perhaps we should add a question to the survey,

'Does having internet access at home cause you to worry about phone bill." or soemthing to that effect ...

Lemming

Inclusion is all find and dandy, but when you've got EirScum charging per minute on something that wasn't designed for that kind of billnig (dial-up), trying to get everyone to buy an obsolete (and expensive) service (ISDN), and charging obscene prices for something that most other countries have at a fraction of the cost, inclusion is gonna be slightly difficult at best.

I mean ... what makes this country so special that FRIACO and REASONABLE Broadband pricing is out of the question?? Other countries smaller or equal in size and population to us have done it, so why can't we??

Dangger

Read the statements from Jack McConnell Scotland's forst minister here.

He says seems to have a little insight......

"This is a divide which I am determined we shall bridge. It is simply unacceptable that those on low incomes in Scotland are six times less likely to have home access to the web than those on high incomes.

"Our strategy "Connecting Scotland’s People" is raising awareness and improving access to the web, developing skills and involving communities. Over the next few months we will be delivering over 1000 public internet access points which will bring the web right into the heart of Scottish communities.

"We must ensure that everyone can take advantage of the opportunities that new technologies and the web offer."

And now look at the spin rubbish our bright shiny new Information Society Overlord says:

Minister Hanafin drew attention to the range of measures being taken forward under New Connections, the Governments Action Plan on the Information Society, and the strong focus on projects designed to further e-inclusion objectives.

These include the CAIT (Community Access to Information Technology), Equalskills, and Universal Participation initiatives, as well as the new National IT Accessibility Guidelines. She emphasised her commitment to progressing this agenda across Government in her role as Minister with responsibility for Information Society development.

Promoting inclusion is a key priority of the new Government Action Plan. We recognise that investments in Information Society projects will only be maximised if everybody has access to them, concluded Minister Mary Hanafin T.D.

Oh so much spin, will it ever end?


ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.....