Innovation Ireland?

Tonight I attended a seminar on Innovation organised by Inventorium. Chaired by Kevin Myers, 19 people with "experience" gave five minute presentations on what should be done. All this in the context of a new report (yes, another one) on Innovation Ireland and our "Smart Economy" (LOL). Besides the distraction of live tweets being projected behind the speakers (is that really innovative?), the main thing I left with was an observation by Silicon Republic's John Kennedy. Apparently in the whole report there was only one page (one speaker claimed one sentence!) that mentioned broadband. That's a particular drum I have been beating since the mid-Nineties, but it puts the lie to any validity that report might have had. Obviously those writing the report were simply fulfilling a commission; no serious thought seems to have gone into it. Depressing stuff.
A view I espouse, and one also expounded by John Handelaar, is that we can expect very little innovation from our Government and should concentrate on fixing things from the ground up. The best thing the Government can do is fund many initiatives with small amounts of money rather than a few with a lot. And we are going to have to generate a more positive attitude than the current climate of doom and gloom if we are really going to get out of this mess.