OPINION
Best technology seen by Visionaries
13-12-2002
by Bernie Goldbach
Last month nominees for the Irish Internet Association 2002 Net Visionary Award spoke about the most useful technologies for them in 2002, and the technologies they want in the near future.
Chief government whip Mary Hanafin presented the 2002 Net Visionary awards in five separate categories to nominees selected by the biggest block of votes ever recorded by the Irish Internet Association. Those selected for awards come from a wide variety of disciplines. However, when separately interviewed about their daily use of technology, nearly all of them do the same thing when first sitting down with their computer every day: they check their e-mail.
The winner of the top award, denise cox, works in the business of e-mail. Her job is to make e-mail more relevant and to suggest ways for people to make the most of their time on-line. She co-ordinates e-mail marketing campaigns with E-Search and now produces a suite of 20 e-newsletters sent to more than 100,000 readers.
Acclaimed as a visionary by the Irish Internet community, cox revealed her personal vision of the year ahead. "Being able to conference with others in a text message" is the technology she wants next year. Several mobile phone developers have operating versions of SMS chat running already, which means her wish could come true in 2003.
When asked which new technology enthralled her last year, cox named "text messaging, because it is the ultimate e-mail."
David d'Arcy, nominated for the IIA Journalist Award, affirmed the need for smooth electronic communications. Respected for his thinking and writing, d'Arcy credited "mail filtering and message management" as the most useful technology for him. He would like to see smarter mail management in the year ahead.
PJ Fitzpatrick, nominated for an award as a testimony to his work in e-government, believes "500 judges on Lotus Notes" to be the most useful technology of 2002. Standardising the courts with Lotus Notes helped the courts take important steps forward in managing sensitive electronic communication. The system also enhanced electronic calendaring and led to improvements in the speed and efficiency of the courts.
In Fitzpatrick's mind, the best technology in the year ahead would be to "have documents filed electronically." Observers know this would accelerate the flow of court cases. However, it is a massive undertaking that involves both public servants and hundreds of solicitors through Ireland.
David Long, recipient of the IIA Social Contribution Award, cites the ADSL line in his home as the most useful piece of technology in 2002. He thinks the best technology in the year ahead would be "flat rate Internet access."
Long represents Ireland Offline, a lobby group asking for a more affordable Internet. "You can see it in the numbers where people use their Internet accounts for a few minutes a month, then they drop off." Long believes the entire country would benefit massively through a pricing system that encouraged Internet users to take their eyes off the clock as they browsed the Web and become more active on-line members of the Information Society.
On-line security earned a mention by Ruairi Roddy as the top enhancement of 2002. Roddy, an award nominee who works as a systems developer with Thomas Crosbie Holdings, thinks the best technology of 2002 is "putting a firewall on a network card. They finally figured out how to make security part of the card itself," he said. Without this capability, many administrators have to invoke security settings on separate firewall computers. Having a network card inside a computer that serves as a personal firewall helps protect systems from attackers.
"I want the people who hope to take away my privacy on-line to conclude it's technically impossible," Roddy said in response to the question of what he hopes for most next year.
Jamie Smyth, a nominated journalist from The Irish Times, flashed his Panasonic GD87 mobile phone as the answer to the most useful technology for him in 2002.
"I want dictation software that can transcribe any subject's voice," he said, naming the technology he needs most in the year ahead.
"My DV camera is my most useful technology," revealed Adrian Weckler, winner of the IIA Journalist Award. "And I want the year ahead to be the end of 56k dial-up connections." Like many frequent Internet users, Weckler yearns for the day of always-on Internet access for everyone.
Based on the testament of the Internet community and the opinions of the award winners, today's Net Visionaries depend on communication systems that work. The issue of Internet access is a predominant reason the 2002 IIA awards polled three times as many votes as last year. Many in the technology sector credit these numbers to the connected interests shared by businesses of all sizes. Making the best use of e-mail, reducing costs while on-line and getting more for each minute spent on the Internet are goals shared by many active users of the Internet in Ireland.
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