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Building for a digital future
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Yet although it is clear that low-impact, hi-tech activities with a global reach have a great deal to offer as new sources of prosperity, progress towards the digital future has been frustratingly slow.
However, even if operations based on e-gaming have been slow to get off the ground, there is now every prospect of more rapid progress. Seven high-flying professionals have been appointed to the board of Digital Jersey Ltd, a body which, it is anticipated, will promote the electronic economy in much the same way that Jersey Finance Ltd promotes financial services.
It would be true to say that Jersey is playing catch-up in key areas, but the very factors which make the Island such a first-rate platform for an offshore finance business also make it an excellent location for a wide range of undertakings based on electronic communication and data handling in all their many forms.
That said, the Island’s political and social stability, its generally well-educated workforce and even the advantages of the high-speed networking of Gigabit Jersey will not be sufficient to drive high-tech commerce forward. The leadership of the board and its executive, plus the entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with political support and appropriate legislation, will be required if opportunities are to be grasped more effectively than in the past.
Fortunately, other favourable signs are accompanying the Digital Jersey initiative. The new intellectual property law, for example, has just received States approval.
Meanwhile, cloud services expert Julian Box has an important role to play through ensuring that Island educational services of all sorts are fully up to speed as far as information technology is concerned.
As chairman of the Education and Skills Technical Advisory Group, the first of several groups intended to support Digital Jersey, he will endeavour to see that what is taught is of commercial as well as theoretical value.
It may be some time before Jersey earns the title Silicon Island, but it is encouraging that serious and practical steps are finally being taken which promise that we will finally fulfil our potential in the digital world.
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