Celtic tiger launches bid for new ‘dot eu’ websites contract

Date: 19/09/02

By Peter Chapman

AN IRISH-led consortium wants to help put the roar back into the Celtic tiger with a multi-million euro bid to run the EU's new 'dot eu' internet domain from the continent's western fringes.

As the battle for the contract to become the 'registry' charged with managing dot eu gets underway before the 25 October deadline, Paul Kavanagh - a former Irish senator and IT boss - is waging a public relations offensive to boost his chances of bagging the deal.

Whoever wins the not-for-profit contract will manage a list of all websites registered to use the dot eu name and help iron out legal hitches over intellectual property.

It also means liaising with thousands of private 'registrars' who act as go-betweens for clients wishing to sign up to the eu domain.

Speaking to European Voice, Kavanagh, 61, says his 'Eureto' consortium would be up to the challenge.

His team includes management expertise from two major consulting firms, Accenture and Deloitte and Touche, as well as board members handpicked from member states including France, Greece and Germany.

He promises state-of-the-art IT equipment will be in place to cope with the technical demands of the new domain.

Kavanagh says his bid will create 200 jobs split between the Irish Republic and the area around Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

'For so long there have been these problems about Northern Ireland - this is a meaningful way to come to solve them,' he said.

Kavanagh admits there are also compelling business reasons for setting up the required 24-hour call centre and computer servers in far-flung parts of the country.

Labour is relatively cheap and workers are less prone to switching jobs - making the price of training more cost-effective.

He argues that siting the administration outside the EU's big cities is in keeping with the Commission's e-Europe vision of spreading the information society far and wide.

'There is a saying that being regional is not being peripheral any longer. I like that.'

Irish voters are likely to have their say on the Nice Treaty next month. Kavanagh says winning the dot eu job would help change sceptical Irish minds.

'A project like this would definitely help. It would show people the positive benefits of being - and feeling part of it [the EU].

Win or lose, Kavanagh says people will be able to sign up for dot eu websites as early as January 2003.

Companies would then have a three-month 'sunrise period' during which they would have first pick of a dot eu website carrying their trade name.

An Irish-led consortium wants to help put the roar back into the Celtic tiger with a multi-million euro bid to run the EU's new 'dot eu' internet domain from the continent's western fringes.