From Department of Rural and Community Development; Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
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Minister Attends Telecommunication Action Group Meeting
Item was unpublished or removed
Minister Canney was also shown around Dogpatch Labs where he met Dogpatch Labs’ Smart City Lead, Ciaran Gilsean and a number of innovators and digital entrepreneurs.
Speaking about the visit, Minister Canney said:
“I would like to thank Dublin City Council’s Chief Executive, Owen Keegan, and his team for inviting me here today. This was a fascinating experience. Today I saw glimpses of Ireland’s future. The work being done on Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the use and testing of 5G technologies is world-class and a testament to the imagination of all involved and the wisdom of the Council’s support.”
During the visit, Minister Canney also called in to the Telecommunications Action Group meeting. These meetings are held every month at different locations around the country and offer local authority Broadband Officers the opportunity to share information, attend presentations and engage with other stakeholders. The theme of this month’s meeting, hosted by Dublin City Council, is smart cities/towns and the 5G revolution.
Outlining the importance of these regular events, Minister Canney said:
“Collaboration is the key to resolving the current issues that we have with connectivity, but also to developing new technologies. The local authorities’ broadband officers are here to learn, to share their expertise and to contribute to national policies and initiatives. These events are also an invaluable source of information for the Department of Rural and Community Development as they allow my officials to understand the challenges faced by local authorities in relation to digital connectivity and to work closely with them to address these challenges. Events like today, complement the work of the Department in supporting improved mobile and digital connectivity throughout Ireland – be it via the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce or through our work with local authorities.”
Dublin City Council’s Chief Executive, Owen Keegan, speaking about the Minister’s visit and Dublin hosting this month’s Telecommunications Action Group meeting, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Minister Seán Canney and the national Broadband Officers from across Irish local authorities to our Smart Docklands testbed district. We all collectively have an ambition to position Ireland at the forefront of smart city innovations and to realise the opportunity of applying emerging technologies in a way that has a positive benefit for our residents while also creating new economic opportunities.
“Through the Smart Dublin/Docklands initiative we are committed to building a 5G connectivity zone enabling wider innovation and use cases to be developed and invented in Dublin.”
ENDS
The Department of Rural and Community Development Press Office
076-1006843 / 087-1734633
Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development, Seán Canney T.D., is the Chairperson of the Item was unpublished or removed
The Programme for a Partnership Government gave a commitment to establish a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to identify solutions to broadband/mobile phone coverage deficits and to investigate how better services could be provided to consumers prior to full build and rollout of the network planned under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State Intervention. The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce was established in July 2016 arising from this commitment.
The Taskforce published a report in December 2016. All of the actions that the Taskforce identified targeted specific issues that had been raised by stakeholders or identified through the work of the Taskforce. In addition, many addressed underlying issues that are of fundamental importance to the ability of the telecommunication operators to deliver improved services, particularly in rural areas. Details may be found on the Dept’s website drcd.gov.ie
Action 3 of the Taskforce’s first work-plan was to provide funding to Local Authorities to support the appointment of an officer with responsibility for broadband and to act as a single point of contact for telecoms operators. This role has evolved with many Broadband Officers now also working on mobile phone coverage, demand stimulation for digital services, contributing to national policy and involvement in several specialist working groups. Broadband Officers are supported by dedicated liaison officers at the Department of Rural and Community Development and have been praised by many stakeholders as significant and very positive contributors and facilitators of digital development in Ireland.
In order to continue to support the development of the Broadband Officer role, the Dept. Rural and Community Development has increased the level of funding from €35,000 per annum per Local Authority to €42,000 in 2019. The Dept has also increased the number of Telecommunications Action Group meetings with 10 planned for this year.