The Impact of Technology on Ireland's Economic Growth and Development: Lessons for Developing Countries

The contribution of information technology (IT) to economic growth and development is seen as an important factor underlying the pace of development in many developing countries. While Asia’s NIEs are often portrayed as models for economic growth, Ireland’s recent economic performance has attracted considerable attention, earning it the label, Europe’s Celtic Tiger. We adopt a framework of IT-led development to show how, despite having a weak indigenous IT sector, Ireland has succeeded in creating a world-class industry in computer hardware, software and services through a policy of “industrialization by invitation”. We then abstract from Ireland’s experiences with IT-led development to provide some general lessons for developing countries.