Categories: Web

IE Domain Registry launches €100,000 e-commerce development fund

The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has today launched a new e-commerce website development fund aimed at Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) called OPTIMISE. The fund is worth €100,000 in total and hopes to encourage Irish businesses to realise the potential of selling online.

why.ie

Last November’s findings from the IEDR’s Domain Name Industry Report eluded to the fact that as of 2009 only 66% of Irish businesses had some form of website in place, increasing from 40% in 2000. Of the 66%, only 21% of those had the functionality in place to sell goods and services, a disappointing increase of just 3% since 2000. It is hoped that the OPTIMISE fund can improve on these results.

The fund, now inviting applicants, will allow ten Irish SMEs “to begin the process of transforming their existing online presence into a fully featured, transactional website custom-designed for their business’ needs”. The ten successful applicants will each receive €10,000 worth of technical and marketing expertise needed to plan and implement a major online store-front upgrade.

Commenting on the launch of OPTIMISE David Curtin, chief executive of the IE Domain Registry, stated,

“The .ie domain is highly respected both nationally and internationally and we want to see Irish businesses using it to make the most of the 24 hour sales channel that is the Internet. Our research shows that the next growth phase of the Internet in Ireland depends on the SME community here and their willingness to embrace new technologies to build better, fully featured e-commerce websites.

“Too many Irish SMEs are still reluctant to make that transition. We know that great websites attract people online and encourage them to spend more time consuming advertising, products and services. Until such times as SMEs in Ireland grasp this, they continue to lose competitive advantage by missing out on lucrative sales opportunities online.”

Applications are being requested from micro-enterprises or SMEs that have an existing and openly accessible website registered with a .IE domain. The closing date for applicantion is Friday June 03, 2011.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

Aestro AI launches in the US and Latin America to transform the debt recovery process with Agentic AI 

In 2025, Agentic AI is widely seen as the next frontier of progress for AI…

2 hours ago

‘Community is antidote to capitalism’: Club of Rome to young people

The Communist Cult of Rome is brainwashing youth into its Marxist ideology with WEF great…

3 hours ago

The UK’s push to be a relevant global hub for space technology

Despite lagging behind global space powers like the United States, Russia and China, the United…

5 days ago

US spy community is creating a portal to buy, access your personal data

The Intelligence Community is setting up a one-stop shop, icdata.gov, to buy access to your…

1 week ago

The gaming startup market in Mexico: Opportunities and challenges

The vibrant world of tech startups has found a space carved out for growth and…

1 week ago

As data center demand drives uptick in demand for electricity, AEP and Think Power Solutions focus on AI-enabled utility infrastructure 

Despite the recent volatility seen in the markets, American Electric Power (AEP), one of the…

1 week ago