Ladies and Gentlemen,
Congratulations to all of the finalists in all of the categories of this, the fourth annual Digital Media Awards. The importance of these Awards is clear from the increase in the number of entries from 220 in 2003 to over 500 this year, now covering 28 award categories.
This evening’s event gives us all an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements and review the developments of the digital media sector, over the last year.
As you are aware, Digital Media is the cornerstone of the Government’s Information Society Agenda. One of the Government’s most significant initiatives in this area is the establishment of the Digital Hub. The Hub has expanded rapidly since last year and now has approximately 50 media companies located in the area with more than 500 people now employed.
This diverse cluster of digital media enterprises are involved in a wide variety of areas including gaming, animation, e learning, media distribution and mobile technologies.
This diversity has allowed the companies based here to successfully work together to develop new digital media products and services.
But the Hub has reached its physical capacity and needed room to grow. That was why this Government has showed its commitment to the Digital Hub by supporting a tender process which will deliver an extra 140,000 square foot of state-of-the-art developed office space over the coming years, in addition to rejuvenating an historic area of our capital city.
Companies will now have the opportunity to grow and expand out of the incubation centre environment, yet remain part of the Digital Hub community.
This is an essential part of building a world-class media cluster and I congratulate everybody involved in making the Digital Hub what it is today and what it will become.
The establishment of the National Digital Research Centre in the Hub this year will add to its reputation as a dynamic and attractive location for digital media development. I expect the NDRC tendering process to be completed very shortly.
But the progress being made in the Digital Hub is not in isolation. The latest figures from Comreg have indicated that we breached the quarter of a million broadband subscriber target before Christmas.
While this is a significant step forward, more needs to be done. My Department has recently launched a Broadband Demand discussion paper with the aim of stimulating discussion around the current position of the market and the appropriate policy response to increase broadband take-up.
We are at a critical juncture and I invite you all to participate in this consultation process. Let me have your views on what we can do to move forward. The discussion paper is available on my Department’s website.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to salute all finalists present here this evening. You are the pioneers of a New Digital Age - one that is vital for our future prosperity.
I would also like to thank Ashville Media, for their invitation to address you this evening and for their ongoing commitment towards Digital development, as well as sponsors Vodafone, The Digital Hub, Envi, AD2One and the Irish Computer Society for their support.
I trust you all will have an enjoyable evening.
ENDS