Patricia Ryan
Ceist:816. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of digital hubs opened in 2020, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31447/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 20 October 2020
Ceisteanna (816)
Freagraí scríofa
A broad range of digital hubs currently operate across Ireland, providing diversity in terms of the capacity, scale of facilities, and services they offer. The management and ownership of these hubs varies from privately owned facilities, to those under the responsibility of public bodies, and hubs operated by social enterprises.
There is currently no centralised dataset on the number or type of hubs in operation, or those that have opened in a particular year. However, work is being undertaken to develop such a dataset, led by my Department and the Western Development Commission (WDC).
The WDC has mapped over 100 remote working hubs within the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) region alone, covering the area from Co. Kerry to Co. Donegal. The WDC's objective is to develop these hubs into a cohesive network of facilities in the AEC region for remote workers, students and for community use. The AEC hub network will include a common booking engine for clients, and collaboration tools to facilitate cross-network engagement between both managers and clients in the hubs.
The WDC has also developed a classification model for hubs which codifies hubs in terms of their services, clientele and mission. This classification model will allow the further development of quality standards and developmental pathways for hubs in the ecosystem.
In addition, more than 300 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) will be connected in remote rural areas across the country over the coming months to provide public access to free high speed broadband services and these BCPs are also being mapped as part of the WDC’s work. More than 50 BCPs are already connected.
An Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, has been convened to investigate the feasibility of mapping and developing a national network of remote working facilities, including hubs, BCPs and libraries, based on the model developed in the AEC region.
An additional €5 million has also been allocated to my Department in Budget 2021 to support the development of this national hubs network, as well as to upgrade existing facilities throughout the country.