TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

SCENARIO 2: Talent, Technology and Tolerance (National scenario: WILD CATS OF
EQUALITY)
Galway Mayor Daithi Glynn, hosted the Irish Mayors forum on October 15 th 2030. This
summit brought together mayors from all over the Irish Isle to engage in dialogue on key
urban topics. Daithi Glynn gave the opening address on the development that has taken
place in Galway.
When you are privileged to live in a city like Galway, you understand why cities are in
ascendancy today. This city known as the “Venice of the West”, seduces you with its the
surrounding hinterland of natural beauty, captures free-spirited, artistic and bohemian
expressions, while encouraging a uniquely cosmopolitan way of life. It is a city built upon the
following principles: it is clean and safe; it provides access to learning and job opportunities; it
has a networked transportation system; it is generally affordable; it is rich in the arts and it is a
great sports town, too.
Great cities like this don’t just happen. They are deliberate and carefully planned. Great
leaders build them. That is why the Western political alliance ‘Western Union’ was established
in 2010 and still exists today. It inspires great leadership from all sectors of society and industry
and it provides leaders with innovative ideas and action agendas on how to make successful
cities thrive. As a result of this, Galway has become known as a well-governed and equitable
city, where it has support and trust of the local community, ensures socially responsible and
equitable business, is committed to the provision of local services, while having a transparent
land use and planning system, but which is also committed to visionary planning.
The Galway miracle was powered by a new model of growth, premised upon the “Three T’s” of
economic development – talent, technology and tolerance.
Talent – There was a time when it was just Dublin competing against the United States for the
global talent pool, nowadays it is Galway also, with a combination of, inarguably, effective
factors: improved quality of life, a competitive workplace culture and a knowledge focussed,
diverse, tech-savvy workforce. Galway has become multicultural and tolerant. How Galway
copes with the tensions brought on by recent national immigration scandals is the key to its
future. The universal dimension, competition, exacerbates the global battle for talent.
Nevertheless, a clear advantage will stand to those who embrace the threats of other countries,
such as the US who continue to restrict talent inflows.
Furthermore, Galway has invested in its higher educational system which simultaneously
bolsters its ability to generate and attract top talent. This was fuelled further through the
construction of the biggest building project ever undertaken in an Irish university. In 2017, NUI
Galway designed and built an innovative, iconic structure on the shores of the River Corrib. It
has now become home to 1000s of students in the discipline of engineering, commerce and
journalism. This project was just one of many projects to develop the ‘Campus of the Future’.
173