Ireland: A software success story

of Ireland's software industry is well recognized internationally. Besides the US, the two countries that come to mind immediately as key regional focus points for the software industry are Ireland and India (for information on India, see Deependra Moitra's Country Report in the January/February issue of IEEE Softwvare). Ireland might seem an unlikely candidate for such a position. After all, it is a small country in a peripheral location. Ireland has been described as "an island off an island off Europe," and a quick look at a map shows why. Ireland lies northwest of Europe, separated from the mainland by Britain to the east, with the Atlantic stretching to the west. In other words, it is far from the main commercial European centers. In addition, Ireland has a population of less than four million people (about five and a half million for the whole island, if Northern Ireland is included)-in stark contrast to India, for example. Before this new focus on software, Ireland was traditionally noted for its scenery and agricultural production.