Summary of ideas submitted in the Technology category…

• Secure (encrypted) personalised health records backed up on a server with patient data (conditions, preferences, prescriptions etc) should improve patient outcomes.
• Sell off the un-used e-voting machines.
• Set up a website called ‘helpout.ie’. Its sole function would be to connect people who have a worthy need with local people who are willing to donate their skills and time for free.
• Set up a website to connect Irish people and people of Irish descent all over the world. Use it for networking/business/culture.
• Set up one website whereby people moving home can inform dozens of public bodies of their new contact details in one go.
• Set up state sponsored research projects (perhaps via the universities) for unemployed electronic/software engineers.
• Text messages: unused characters of a text message could be used to display some other information, embedded in the text e.g. an advert for a business
• The Government has lots of spare office space, especially in the commuter belt counties. Open these up to companies (for a small fee) to provide tele-working centres for their employees.
• The government should adopt a policy of charging for mobile licenses.
• The Government should appoint a ‘Chief Information Officer’ to guide the government’s policy and decision making on technology matters.
• The government should focus on strategies that will foster the creation of native technology companies, and keep them rooted in Ireland until they become global players (rather than get bought out). Consult innovative venture capitalists such as Y Combinator on what it takes to kick start such an economic ecosystem
• The Government should pursue a ’special relationship’ guaranteeing exclusivity in the exchange of ideas between California and Ireland and vice versa. This would communicate a strong political and economic message to the rest of the world.
• The Government should set up an online accounting service that allows citizens to keep track of all their transactions with Revenue, Social Welfare etc.
• The Government shouldn’t outsource technology solutions to foreign companies, but instead use Irish companies especially if they are employing open source technology.
• The idea is that schools using broadband should wirelessly share there access to homes and houses in the vicinity of the school. That in itself would bring more people into the broadband “loop”.
• The introduction of hydrogen generators into homes. These devices increase efficiency and power output and substantially reduce CO2 emissions.
• The Irish recession has led to thousands of hugely experienced, highly qualified business people being made redundant. Simultaneously thousands of young entrepreneurs are leaving schools and colleges, only to find a lack of jobs and opportunities. My idea is to build a social networking site to bring these 2 groups together.
• The public service needs an accurate inventory of their IT estate to become more cost effective
• The specific location of individuals can be tracked at any particular time from the location of their mobile phone. Use the same technology to allow public transport users track bus arrival times.
• The state should encourage high tech start-ups by covering salary costs for at least 2two years, providing low cost, high quality office space and other supports.
• This idea involves the virtualisation and hosting of an organisation’s applications, data and server hardware. Converting these systems into virtual “bubbles” and managing them from our data centre for a single monthly charge.
• This idea seeks to create a business by providing a solution to the problem of storing energy from intermittent renewable sources such as wind turbines or thermoelectric solar panels. The idea is to produce an automated electrolyser unit that can use the electricity from a renewable source to safely split water, giving hydrogen, and subsequently safely store it in compressed form. The hydrogen can then be used to replace imported fossil fuels in domestic/community central heating systems, for example as a (carbon-neutral) fuel in catalytic heaters.
• To date there is only one small Chinese investment in Ireland. We need to invest more in promoting the message about Ireland’s track record to date as a servicing hub for US multinational technology companies in Europe.
• To put small hydro generators in the water supply pipe work to towns and villages generating electricity.
• Upstream film to satellite for global broadcasting/distribution etc.
• Use cloud computing to make savings on IT infrastructure in the public service. This technology allows for under-used capacity during lulls to be utilised in another function: for example, have the Departments of Agriculture and Revenue share excess capacity IT storage.
• Use HAPS/HALE technology in the midwest to overcome the fact that we are lagging behind other countries when it comes to broadband technology. The manufacturing of these platforms could be in Shannon; operations and maintenance could be carried out from Shannon airport, where the expertise of Shannon Aerospace and whatnot could be drawn upon; the down link station could be located near Westpark or ESB Telecom’s POP site to provide connectivity to the rest of Ireland
• Use Lottery machines as e-voting machines. Therefore the slips could be used as an audit trail.
• Use the ESB network to get broadband to every house in Ireland
• Utilise unemployed construction workers and unused machinery to lay down a national fibre optic cable network.
• We have huge wave and wind resources around our coast and Irish companies with considerable expertise in this area. A large capital investment by the government would create employment with the scope for huge potential revenues down the line
• We sell ourselves as a software & technology friendly state, but let ourselves down a lot with simple and arcane things like no integrated ticketing between Dart, Luas, Dublin Bus, Iarnrod Eireann, and Bus Eireann or any form of vehicle tracking for customers of those services
• We should develop a nuclear power system.
• We should fast track the education of professional people in the use of web based technologies.
• We’re not a nation of box packers any more. We should be a nation putting the ideas and products in the box