Council set out 'ambitious' three-year digital plan

STRATEGY Free public WiFi in town centres

Free public Wi-Fi in town centres and broadband connection points (BCPs) in rural areas are some of action points contained in a forward-thinking digital strategy, Cavan County Council is looking to roll out.

'Connected Cavan' is the local authority's Digital Strategy for 2021- 2024. It sets out the vision and key focus areas for the county's digital plan for the next three years.

It's aimed at encouraging and supporting citizens, businesses, and visitors to harness the potential of a digitally enabled society through digital adoption and innovation. The strategy will initiate, and support, the development of actions that lead to a connected and collaborative digital society and economy from 2021 to 2024.

The strategy was informed by a public consultation process conducted in late summer and early autumn 2019. It is a living document that will change and adapt with an ever-changing digital society and, as such, the actions of this plan will be continually monitored and updated.

Tommy Ryan, chief executive of Cavan County Council, said supporting citizens and businesses to realise the benefits of digital is the primary focus of the plan: “County Cavan is one of the first counties in the country to see the roll out of high-speed fibre broadband under the National Broadband Plan and this strategy aims to support the potential that high-speed connectivity offers.”

The local authority chief identified the benefits of future planning in the tech sector. “Already, under this strategy, we are seeing initiatives like free public Wi-Fi in town centres and broadband connection points in rural areas, which are supporting digital initiatives in those communities. This strategy is about promoting ‘digital thinking’ and about supporting businesses and citizens to live, work and connect digitally,” Mr Ryan added.

The strategy's origins go back to 2016 when the council's broadband officer, together with Cavan Local Enterprise Office (LEO) and the Community & Enterprise section of the county council initiated a Digital Economy networking group with local and diaspora tech and creative entrepreneurs. Under the banner, 'Get Connected', this group set the scene and direction for a local digital strategy for Cavan.

Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF), Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, believes the plan is vital for future economic and social success: “Connected Cavan will build a digital capacity to pave the way for future prosperity, cohesion and sustainability across the economy and communities of the county. As we have seen with the COVID-19 crisis, digital tools have been an essential element in our immediate response and this will be fundamental to our recovery. We commit to develop and activate communities through exposure to digital content and technology and support people to discover the value of using digital in their daily lives.”

'Ambitious plan'

The chief marketing officer of National Broadband Ireland, Tara Collins, described it as “an ambitious plan”.

“It’s clear from the document that the development of digital skills and the delivery of highspeed broadband will underpin the strategy. National Broadband Ireland are delighted to help make this ambition a reality through the delivery of the National Broadband Plan on behalf of the Government. We’re delivering infrastructure to over 16,000 premises in County Cavan, of which nearly 4,000 can already order services on the new NBI fibre broadband network, paving the way for e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, as well as enabling more remote working.

“The NBP also provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Pointswhich are local facilities that offer free public access to high-speed internet. There are 12 Broadband Connection Points in Cavan, 11 of which have already been connected, including Kildallan Parish Hall, Castle Saunderson Scout Centre, Bunnoe Community Centre and Cornafean Communty Centre,” Ms Collins concluded.

The Connected Cavan Digital Strategy for 2021- 2024 can be downloaded from connected.cavan.ie