The information age is coming. It may not be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that some people took it to be, but it will happen and it will revolutionise the way the world is run, especially the world of commerce. That much remains certain, but what is not at all certain is the role Ireland will play in it. That is entirely up to us, and that is why I deplore the way our aim to achieve leadership in this area seems to have dropped in priority in recent times. What has certainly happened is that this aim has dropped in terms of visibility.