First, a few thoughts or comments on the reason for this and the background to it. And first is in a sense that I have as Minister with responsibility for communications in this country, that we are increasingly - and I am certainly - comfortable as we move as a people towards this digital age. I feel very comfortable using my digital technologies in variety, be it texting,e.mail, internet use, games. I actually think it sits well with us as a people. Its a positive development as we move towards a greater involvement in the of digital information, digital material in our everyday life’s. And I think its very hard to see how this is going to progress as it is changing so rapidly, but actually I think we are only at the start of a further quantum leap that is going to occur in the use of digital material, as the technology becomes more widely applied, as the digital material we have can work to IP based networks in a much more flexible, sophisticated manner. We can see a convergence in broadcasting, in telecommunications, in a range of other different economic uses that we can see is continuing apace. And I suppose the general point to make first of all is that this is a good thing, this is an attractive thing and that it suits us in a very personal, human way. We are comfortable texting people and we are actually good at picking up on mobile technology and using it in new and innovative ways and it will be the same in a whole range of different digital services that will be delivered in commerce, delivered in education, delivered by the public service and which can be used in the public service in a whole range of different ways.
I like the prospect of shopping across the world, of not relying on just my local corner shop. I like the idea that I can get, whatever it is, a specialist product on the internet. I find myself on a day-to-day basis following what is happening in the world, via You Tube or via other digital platform and not necessarily through via my traditional, analogue television platform. I like that I can watch Prime Time if I haven’t seen it, a few hours later, or that I can actually follow the latest developments in the US Presidential Election in the exact same way as someone in that campaign can probably do, as I have access to all the same material and information. I like the fact that our education system may change from how much can you learn off to how much can start processing and using information. I think it is a better system, where I can have that whole encyclopaedia of the worlds knowledge available in my front room for my sons or daughter to use. I think it is right that we have a social network, a social world that we can access. I think that it is making the world smaller, more attractive and a more peaceful place. So this digital future suits us a people.
It's positive for us to take up these technologies, to confound, to push the boundaries in terms of what we can do with them. That behoves us to make sure that it is secure and safe. That that access point is protected so that we are not to subject to unattractive or unhealthy or financially difficult threats from it. That we have to make sure that my computer where I have that information stored, where it is important to me, is secure. That is why I think that this campaign is hugely important. It has a role in a whole range of different areas of our lives now. We need to make sure that we get it right, that we can build on and can increase the confidence that we have in all these systems. In this country, we tend to knock ourselves a fair bit, but actually in terms of the use of these new digital technologies, in many instances we are ahead of the game, we are quite progressive. A recent survey by Nielsens, published two weeks ago, showed that with internet usage and online shopping we are ahead of other countries. Even in the adoption of some mobile technologies, we are ahead of other countries. Our use of mobile broadband and wireless broadband, possibly because of our market and geographical situation, we are quite progressive and we can pick up these new technologies quite quickly.
To protect that sense of confidence, that sense of adventure, that sense of possibility, we need to make IT secure. That is what this campaign is about. I very much welcome that this is a campaign that is involving a range of different players, particularly the industry. I'm not going to list out all of those involved, but I think is absolutely right that they have played a crucial role in the development of this campaign, in conjunction with the European Union and the two governments. That is a very much welcome aspect of this campaign, which has people involved in the industry, involved in the digital world, as it is evolving, having a core role with government in making IT secure here. I think it is also progressive, that in this third campaign, that it is an all-island approach. That as the same time as we are here in Dublin, Peter Robinson, Minister for Finance in the North, is launching a similar campaign, a cooperative campaign in Northern Ireland and I very much commend Ray Wright and Stephen Lemon from the Northern Ireland Department of Finance, who are here, for their cooperative approach with this project which has been useful.
Its also a whole of Government approach and the Minster for Education has a crucial role as education is in one of those services that is in a digital world that is going to be so important and I think Mary Hanafin and her Department and the National Centre for Technology and Education have had, and will have, a crucial role in the development of making IT secure in the education sphere. Their involvement, their cooperation and work in the area is hugely important. As is the Minster for Justice and the Internet Advisory Board and their involvement in this, because it has to be a cross government approach. This digital world is not just technologies for the communications area - it has applications and implications across government.
So what we are doing over these two weeks is as I said, an all-island approach, cooperating with industry and also involving a range of different government departments. I know that the Internet Advisory Board and ourselves will be involved, over the next two weeks, in crucial projects. The main ones being, first of all, a major advertising campaign on television and on radio to try to get across some of the concepts. We are dealing with the whole population here so the messages and information we get out has to be simple, has to be clear and has to be something people can easily follow. The major advertising campaign will show how you can make IT secure, how you can protect your own computer and how you can protect people using the internet. 900,000 pamphlets are also giving details on that, not just on makeITsecure, but also the Internet Advisory Board, in terms of giving good, practical information to parents, who are by the nature of it, uncertain of the technology, uncertain of how their children are using the internet. I think it is absolutely valid that the State is playing a role there with the industry in providing useful information so people can learn what is the best thing you can do and how you can protect people, particularly in the social networking area. There will also be a series of 25 seminars around the country where local communities can again ask questions, get information and find out what the experts are saying. Leading to sessions where we bring international speakers here in two weeks time, Friday week, for a major session, bringing the leading thinkers and speakers in the area of internet security and social networking so that there is some international expertise here that people can avail of.
Crucially also our own Internet link, makeITsecure.org, which is a website which can provide a simple, single point of recommendation and of advice. One of the particular aspects of it that I like is Craig Doyle. It is very good, I was watching it last night and it is an overall presentation of some of the issues – it’s easy to understand and relates to people’s everyday experiences. It is a very attractive and very well done medium for explaining what exactly the scale of how you make IT secure is and what the threats are.
That’s just a sample of what is going to occur over the next two weeks. We’re launching here today. I very much welcome the media’s interest in this as it is something that affects everybody’s everyday life and when that is the case it is of interest to the public. There is a concern that we are not stolen from, that our children are safe, and also, I think, that there is recognition that this is a digital world. That this is something that we are adapting to, that we like that is very much central to our economic development, our social development, our educational development and also our environmental development. It can lead to much greater productivity, we can have much more efficient, much more sophisticated economies that our based on this digital world as it evolves. And that is why I am very glad to be here today.
Finally, I would like to commend the officials in my own department who worked incredibly hard within very tight timeframes to bring all that cooperation together, to deliver a series of programmes and events, a huge amount of activity and I think it is going to be very successful and very useful.