Top 5 Irish tech policy stories of the week

Minutes from last Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum published

Minutes from the last meeting of the Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum (EDAF) in December have been published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The EDAF discussed GovTech, EU digital files and regulation including the DSA, AI Act, DMA and Data Act, the National Digital Strategy and the State of the Digital Decade Report.?

IDA warns against overly strict measures regarding data centres

In a document submitted to a review of the country’s connection agreement rules for large energy users (LEU) in March, the IDA warned policymakers against taking a “draconian” approach to Ireland’s emissions reduction targets. The agency warned that an overly restrictive approach could?"seriously impact Ireland’s FDI proposition across several business areas, including manufacturing and high-value digital services".

Survey finds that teens are regularly seeing 'toxic' content online

A survey by Studyclix of secondary school students found that a large proportion see “toxic” content on their social media feeds which they consider offensive to women, homophobic or racist on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, the survey also found that over two thirds of the students use AI tools to do things like create sample questions, plan work and generate essay ideas.

E-scooter regulations to come into force next week

From Monday,?regulations that set out new legal and safe technical parameters and usage of e-scooters and e-bikes will come into effect. Users of e-scooters must be over 16 for their own safety and the safety of other road users, Meanwhile, powerful e-mopeds that can go markedly faster than fast cyclists will need vehicle registration and, in some cases, to be licensed and insured

Ireland’s Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024 – 2033 launched?

Minister for Education, Norma Foley, and Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, have launched Ireland’s Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033. The Strategy aims?to deliver systematic improvement in literacy, numeracy and digital literacy across the continuum of education and to strengthen supports for the critical roles played by parents and communities in supporting the development of children’s?skills.