IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

If there is anyone who is expert on the realities of rolling out fibre infrastructure and future wireless technologies, it is former BT Ireland CEO Graham Sutherland.

The Digital Repository of Ireland won the Promoting Ireland Overseas, Open Source and Overall Award last Thursday for the Inspiring Ireland project it spearheaded in collaboration with eight of Ireland’s national cultural institutions and the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht.

The benefits of implementing the long-awaited individual health identifier — facilitating care delivery to the right patient, in the right place and at the right time — should far outweigh the cost of implementing this key enabler, writes Lloyd Mudiwa. The Irish health service is about to get a lot more efficient and safer, and at not too high a cost too, if the experience of the Epilepsy Patient Record (EPR) is anything to go by.

The Minister for Social Protection has said she cannot guarantee the protection of data from hackers, but they are taking security "very seriously", writes Amy Ryan Almost 3 million people in the State now have the new Public Service Cards and there are 50 different state bodies who have access to the data stored on the card. The Minister said that the card has been introduced to tackle the issue of fraud.

Pilot scheme to monitor scooter safety will be open to 18,000 students and 2,000 staff

Dublin City University is launching a shared scooter scheme that will allow staff, students and companies located on its campuses to get around more easily.

The electric scooters are being made available as part of a research pilot project intended to monitor how artificial intelligence and computer vision can improve safety for both riders and pedestrians. The initiative will also consider how e-scooters could be used to replace other modes of transport.

Dublin City University (DCU) has partnered with Bentley Systems to create an advanced digital twin of its campus as part of its Smart DCU initiative. The partnership combines artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive digital twin technology. The campus will be used as a testing ground for innovative smart city solutions, with the aim of creating sustainable, efficient, and enjoyable urban spaces worldwide.

Bentley’s open 3D and reality modeling technology can create a campus model intricately linked with Internet of Things (IoT) data, which results in an immersive digital twin on its iTwin Platform.

TIP OpenWifi is being trialled by Dublin City Council to expand the free-to-use Wi-Fi network in the city centre and beyond as part of the WiFi4EU programme.

A partnership between Dublin City Council and Virgin Media Business to provide free Wi-Fi in the city centre is trialling a new open-source network architecture that enables multi-vendor interoperability.

Dublin is trialling mini urban distribution centres and powered walkers and quad cycles to enable city centre deliveries that don’t contribute to local emissions or congestion.

The pilot is funded by Dublin City Council, Enterprise Ireland and Belfast City Council and the system was developed as part of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) challenge, which sought new approaches to optimising deliveries.

Initial details of the line-up for ActivAge were announced DHDA CEO Edel Flynn and speakers confirmed to date include Dr David Plans, leader of product vision at Biobeats, Dr Lloyd Humphreys, head of business development at Patients Know Best, and Dr Richard Pope, consultant physician (telehealth) at Airedale Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.


“E-health is one of the major growth areas in digital right now,” said Flynn.

The second element of the plan that Howlin revealed last year saw the return of a phrase that many of us believed was consigned to the dustbin of technology history: e-government.

A free online register will shortly display all licensed premises in the country as the registration system moves online.

Intoxicating liquor and club licences for pubs, hotels and restaurants will be viewable online eliminating the need to attend at a court office.

The notion of digital or egovernment has been around for many years but over the past year there has been a concerted effort to make progress on its implementation – both in Ireland and globally.

Irishman Seán Shine, who works with governments in countries as diverse as Brazil, Russia, Mexico and South Africa, says that there was a lot of discussion about the subject in the early years of the millennium without huge progress in many cases and it went off the radar for several years, but now the bias is clearly for action.

Digital library services operating across branches in Fingal have come in for praise from the highest level.

Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment, Patrick O'Donovan, TD, visited Fingal County Council's Blanchardstown Library to witness the progress being made.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is moving to a completely online forestry grant and premium system from January 1, 2020.

Announced by Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, Andrew Doyle, it was revealed that the system will be open for use from this November for applications for 2020 forestry premium payments which are due to be paid in early January.

The government’s online service www.rtol.ie allows road haulage and public passenger transport operators to apply for – and manage – their licences online. It was one of the Minister’s key priorities for 2014 and is in line with the eGovernment and Public Service Reform plans.

As semiconductors and data continue to reshape our lives, smart infrastructure, where tech meets the material world, is rebuilding our environment - Jason Walsh asks what comes next?

When the computer revolution really started to pick up steam in the 1970s it was quite common to hear predictions of how central processing units (CPUs) would revolutionise and re-shape everything around us, from factories to buildings, and even the towns and cities that we lived in. The predictions were not quite wrong – robotics certainly transformed manufacturing, for example – but the time scale was slightly off.

All 18 city councillors were presented with the latest in new computer technology – an individual laptop/tablet combination for each elected member.

Each city councillor was also presented with printers to accompany their new ‘toys’.

The portal provides links to three different types of sevices:

• Online services: These include Buy a Birth Certificate, Apply for Social Welfare, View 1901 and 1911 Census, Complain to the Ombudsman, Apply to Rural Broadband Scheme and Pay a Court Fine. In order to make it more user-friendly, the listing of services can be limited to those that allow users to apply for, pay for, complain about or just find various services.
• Government websites: These include Government departments, Revenue, merrionstreet.ie, Iris Oifigiúil, Pensions Board, eTenders and publicjobs.ie.
• Citizens Information: This Government website provides information on rights, entitlements and benefits, and currently contains over 1300 documents. These cover the domains of: Birth, Family and Relationships, Consumer Affairs, Death and Bereavement, Education and Training, Employment, Environment, Government in Ireland, Health, Housing, Justice, Money and Tax, Moving Country, Social Welfare, and Travel and Recreation.

Departments want to increase uptake and counteract ‘negative’ media coverage

The Government is to launch a €200,000 radio and online advertising campaign to promote the public services card and to address concerns reported in the media in recent months.

The Department of Public Expenditure and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer are seeking tenders for a media strategy and creative campaign to encourage uptake of the card, particularly among young people and men of working age.

The Government have suggested 45 ways of improving efficiency, avoiding duplication, saving money, and making online services more attractive.