Paul Rellis, managing director, Microsoft Ireland
3rd February 2010
Technology enables jobs opportunity.
Any digital development plan will have to focus on jobs. There is a great business opportunity and a great jobs opportunity for Ireland.
We have more than 200,000 small businesses and it is only going to increase.
The one thing that will give small Irish companies big company scale and reach is technology via a digital platform. Today we are competing not just with countries in the EU but also countries beyond the EU. Unless we can scale and improve productivity through technology we will continue to suffer.
We are at an inflection point where over the next two years we can decide with a lot of courage that we actually want to achieve our aspiration of becoming a fantastic business nation and create a society that is truly open, very innovative and helps people, regardless of their health, wealth or location, to play a part in society.
I think technology is the key enabler of that, whether you’re a schoolchild, a pensioner, person working or a person who lost their job. Technology can improve your life – whether you are an SME or multinational, technology can connect you with the rest of the world and level the playing field.
We are not a one-country economy anymore, we are in a global economy and whether you work for a small or large company you are competing for services and products around the world. The digital economy can make that work for you.
Paul Rellis' biography
Paul Rellis was appointed managing director of Microsoft Ireland in December 2007 and is responsible for Microsoft Corporation’s business in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and also represents Microsoft on all strategic policy and communications issues in Ireland.
Prior to being appointed MD, Rellis was the managing director for Microsoft’s European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Operations Centre, based in Sandyford, Co Dublin, where he was responsible for services across 131 countries. Previously, he held the position of finance director for Microsoft Operations in EMEA and Asia-Pacific.
He joined Microsoft in January 2000 from The Coca-Cola Company, where he held a variety of senior positions in finance, marketing and operations.
Rellis was president of the American Chamber of Commerce in 2008 and continues to be a board member of the organisation. He is also a member of the governing body of IBEC, is a member of the board of the IMI and of the National Digital Research Centre. He also chair of the Joint Implementation Group set up by the Department of Education under the €150-million plan for ‘Smart Schools’.
He is also the chair of the steering group that is looking at the development of a new national strategy for higher education in Ireland.
