Luke Fehily, Director of Innovation Policy at Progress Ireland, discusses Ireland's role as a policy innovator. He advocates for techno-optimism and explores how to tackle NIMBY challenges with community-focused solutions. The dialogue dives into the urgent need for increased research funding for young scientists and innovative strategies to spark entrepreneurial growth. They even touch on the fascinating topic of drone coffee deliveries in Dublin, showcasing how Ireland is embracing cutting-edge innovations in urban life.
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Ireland's Economic Transformation
Ireland rapidly transformed from a low-GDP country to one of the highest per capita incomes in the Eurozone.
This leapfrogged traditional development models by partnering with American tech and pharmaceutical companies.
insights INSIGHT
Progress Ireland's Origin
Ireland's rapid acceleration through international partnerships created a need for institutional support for domestic industries.
Progress Ireland aims to address this gap by acting as an external module, bypassing bureaucratic constraints.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Navigating Bureaucracy
Identify and collaborate with effective actors within the existing system to overcome bureaucratic hurdles.
Offer support and clear blockages for these actors, acting as "offensive linemen."
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This book probes the complex moral lives of street-level bureaucrats: the frontline social and welfare workers, police officers, and educators who represent government’s human face to ordinary citizens. Combining insights from political theory with ethnographic fieldwork, Bernardo Zacka shows how these workers wield significant discretion and make decisions that profoundly affect people’s lives. The book reveals bureaucratic life as more fluid and ethically fraught than most citizens realize, inviting a bottom-up approach to political theory that considers how the state interacts with citizens when implementing policies.
Luke Fehily is the Director of Innovation Policy at Progress Ireland — an independent think tank backed by the likes of the Collison brothers — that’s on a mission to connect Ireland to proven policy solutions from around the world.
Before joining Progress Ireland, Luke cut his teeth in both public and private sectors, developing a unique perspective on how to navigate bureaucratic challenges while maintaining ambitious visions for change. His current work spans housing, infrastructure, and innovation policy, with a particular emphasis on meta-scientific approaches to research funding and development.
In this episode we discuss why Ireland should embrace techno-optimism, how to beat the NIMBY challenge with win-win solutions, why young scientists need more research funding, and MUCH more. Plus, we even touch on drone coffee deliveries (happening now in Dublin) and the things needed to unleash Ireland's entrepreneurial spirit.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.
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