Policy information
Digital Inclusion
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
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The internet is a resource for everyone. It connects billions of people and offers countless ways to interact, communicate, be creative and productive. This means new opportunities in terms of how we live, work, and learn. It is vital that everyone is given the opportunity to participate fully in today’s digital world.
The first phase of the National Digital Strategy was launched in July 2013. This strategy focuses on digital engagement and how Ireland can benefit from a digitally engaged society. It sets out a clear vision and a number of practical actions to help increase the number of citizens and businesses engaging online through industry and enterprise, citizen training, schools and education.
Building on Phase 1, the government is looking to develop a new National Digital Strategy. This is in response to technological change over the years and the range of opportunities and challenges this presents to Irish society.
A public consultation on a new National Digital Strategy was held at the end of 2018. This consultation invited members of the public and interested stakeholders to make submissions that would inform the scope and delivery of the new strategy which is now being drafted.
Web accessibility ensures people can use and operate websites and mobile application based services, especially people with disabilities. When websites are correctly designed and developed, all users generally have equal access to information and functionality.
The European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020 (SI 358/2020) requires public sector bodies to ensure that their websites and apps are accessible to users, especially people with disabilities, by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. The regulations came into force on 23 September 2020 and transpose EU Web Accessibility Directive 2016/2102.
All public sector bodies are required to prepare, and regularly update, a detailed, comprehensive and clear accessibility statement on the compliance of their websites and mobile applications with these Regulations, to be placed on the website or alongside their mobile application. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1523 contains a model accessibility statement.
The National Disability Authority is the national monitoring body under these regulations. They can advise on how to make your websites and content more accessible to users.
In a connected society, digital skills are essential if we are going to realise the full social and economic potential of the digital world. The government has introduced several initiatives and programmes to help develop the digital skills of people all over Ireland.
The Digital Skills for Citizens Scheme supports and empowers citizens who have not used the internet to take their first steps in getting online. Since 2017, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has provided €5.5 million to community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations to deliver informal basic digital skills training to people nationwide.
Training classes are available to all citizens who don’t have the confidence, motivation or skills to benefit from digital inclusion. Training is targeted at people over 45, farming communities, small business owners, the unemployed, persons with disabilities and disadvantaged groups.
The government is committed to promoting the use of technology in education, and creating an environment that supports positive outcomes in line with the National Digital Strategy and the Digital Strategy for Schools. The School Digital Champion Programme is a unique opportunity for second level students to take part in an innovative programme that enables them to develop their creativity, critical-thinking and communications skills. Students are asked to complete a project using their digital and communications skills to develop a project that could benefit their school, local community or local business.
The internet connects billions of people all over the world, giving them continued access to new markets and products. The future of business and enterprise is reliant on digital platforms; no business now can afford to ignore the potential of digital markets.
For many businesses though, the question is not whether to trade online, it's how to start. Designed to assist small businesses, the Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers training and advice, along with financial assistance of up to €2,500. This programme was developed under the National Digital Strategy, funded by DECC and delivered by the nationwide network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs).
The scheme is aimed at businesses with limited online trading presence and:
- ten employees or less
- €2 million turnover or less
- at least six months trading
Since 1 January 2021, responsibility for this scheme has moved to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) was established in 2003 to oversee the Digital Hub initiative. The original decision to establish the Digital Hub was taken in light of the success of other high-tech clusters around the world and was seen as an important contributor to Government policy for the development of the digital tech industry. The DHDA property portfolio comprises a campus of circa 5.6 acres located in the Liberties area of Dublin.
The DHDA played an important role in the early development of the tech sector in Dublin and over 400 companies have progressed through the Hub since its foundation and have included Stripe, Slack and Etsy.
There are currently 31 companies employing 270 people located in the Digital Hub Campus.
The Government recently announced that the DHDA is to be dissolved and its properties are to be transferred to the Land Development Agency. The decision was made following a strategic review commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, which concluded that the digital tech sector in Dublin has developed significantly in the past twenty years, and that the Agency is no longer required in order to sustain the continued growth of the sector. The strategic review report can be found here .
The managed wind down, which will take account of the needs of the clientele and staff of the DHDA and the community, is expected to be completed by mid-2022. The Digital Hub will continue to provide office space and business support services to growing technology companies and industry organisations during the wind down period.
The National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) , established in 2006, is a Government initiative to support early stage innovative digital enterprises start-ups through accelerator and pre-seed investment supports. The NDRC delivers a mentorship-driven accelerator with €100,000 founder-friendly pre-seed funding, and early stage supports including non-equity pre-accelerator programmes to entrepreneurs across Ireland. It invests in start-ups building “global solutions to global problems”, to create internationally scalable Irish companies.
The company was established by five educational institutions: UCD, TCD, DCU, IADT and NCAD ran the NDRC from 2006 under two concession agreements. An independent review, commissioned by the Department, concluded that the initiative had added economic value, that it would not be provided by the private sector in the absence of State support and should be continued. Following a public procurement process, the contract to deliver the NDRC services was awarded to a consortium led by Dogpatch Labs on 30 November 2020.
The principal services, which are provided under the NDRC name, include:
1. Accelerator Programmes and capital investments in early stage digital enterprises
2. Regional services: pre-accelerator programmes and “training the trainer” services
3. Investment portfolio management.
There is a strong regional dimension to the services which are delivered through Dogpatch Labs, based in Dublin and its regional hub partners at the Republic of Work, Cork, RDI Hub in Kerry and Portershed in Galway. The regional partners all play a central role in the design and the delivery of the early stage supports and pre-accelerator programmes. Through a ‘hub and spoke’ model each hub has relationships with other emerging hubs, universities and incubators in its region to maximise entrepreneurial support across every county in Ireland.
The vision for the EU Digital Single Market is to establish a single market for digital services in the Union, while ensuring fair competition, a high level of consumer protection and personal data protection for European citizens and business.
Since 2015, 28 out of 30 EU Digital Single Market legislative initiatives have been adopted under three pillars:
- Access to online products and services for consumers and businesses
- Shaping the environment for digital networks and services to grow and thrive
- Maximising the growth potential of the European digital economy
The European Commission considers that the DSM can create opportunities for new startups and existing companies in a market of over 500 million people, potentially contributing €415 billion per year to Europe's economy, creating jobs and transforming our public services.
Enhanced use of digital technologies can improve citizens' access to information and culture, improve their job opportunities and promote modern open government.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has been responsible for negotiations on a number of legislative initiatives under the EU Digital Single Market, including:
- EU Roam Like at Home
- WiFi4EU
- European Electronic Communications Code
- Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications
- ePrivacy Regulation
- Free Flow of Data Regulation
DECC feeds into a whole of government perspective on the DSM via the Interdepartmental Committee on the EU Digital Single Market led by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
The European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) represents a revision of the entire EU regulatory framework for the telecommunications sector. It will repeal and replace the Framework Directive, the Authorisation Directive, the Access Directive and the Universal Services Directive.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the formulation of a set of principles to promote and uphold EU values in the digital space. The consultation, open until 2 September, seeks to open a wide societal debate and gather views from citizens, non-governmental and civil society organisations, businesses, administrations and all interested parties. These principles will guide the EU and Member States in designing digital rules and regulations that deliver the benefits of digitalisation for all citizens.
The contributions to the public consultation will feed into a proposal from the Commission for a joint inter-institutional declaration on Digital Principles of the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission. This proposal is expected by the end of 2021.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the Data Act and amended rules on the legal protection of databases, which is open until 3 September 2021.
The initiative aims to facilitate access to and use of data, and to review the rules on the legal protection of databases. It seeks to strike the right balance between rights to access data and incentives to invest in data, without changing the current data protection rules.
The consultation will collect information on the following aspects:
- Business-to-government data sharing for the public interest
- Business-to-business data sharing
- Tools for data sharing: Smart Contracts
- Clarifying rights on non-personal Internet of Things data stemming from professional use
- Improving portability for business users of cloud services
- Complementing the portability right under Article 20 GDPR
- Intellectual Property Rights – Protection of Databases
- Safeguards for non-personal data in international context
The European Commission has launched a consultation and a discussion forum to help shape its Digital Compass policy programme.
The consultation, open until 3 August, aims to gain feedback on:
- accelerating the digital transformation
- reaching the EU’s 2030 digital targets
- ensuring coordinated and swift actions
- identifying the policy options to support the objectives
- implementing multi-country projects to drive investments
On 9 March 2020, the Commission published a Communication on the 2030 Digital Compass where it stated the vision for a European way to a digitalised economy and society, and where it set out Europe’s digital ambitions for 2030 in the form of concrete targets and tools. The Communication presented a vision which centered around the following four cardinal points; skills, government, infrastructures, and business. The Commission is now preparing a proposal for the policy programme that will operationalise this vision. All stakeholders, including start-ups, SMEs, researches, public administrations, organisations and interested citizens can help shape the Commission’s policy programme proposal. They can share valuable experience and insights about the digital transformation by joining the discussions on the Digital Compass on the EU’s online forum, Futurium.
The Commission aims to enable the Digital Decade with a set of concrete tools as follows: key targets and milestones for each cardinal point, a governance structure to facilitate joint commitments between the Member States and the Commission, and a mechanism to operate and deploy Multi-Country Projects that combine investments from EU Member States, the Commission and the private sector.
Ireland has signed the EuroQCI Declaration, joining all 27 EU Member States in committing to working together, along with the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to build the EuroQCI – a secure quantum communication infrastructure that will span the whole EU. Such high-performing, secure communications networks will be essential to meeting Europe’s cybersecurity needs in the years to come.
The EuroQCI will be part of a wider Commission plan to launch a satellite-based secure connectivity system that will make high-speed broadband available everywhere in Europe. This plan will provide reliable, cost-effective connectivity services with enhanced digital security. As such, the EuroQCI will complement existing communication infrastructures with an additional layer of security based on the principles of quantum mechanics – for example, by providing services based on quantum key distribution, a highly secure form of encryption.
