Social entrepreneur likes to use technology to help keep it local

Pat Kennedy describes himself as a social entrepreneur committed to using technology to benefit local communities. An engineering graduate who is fascinated by the possibilities of e-services, Kennedy set up e-Townz three years ago to build and launch a multi-service web platform for communities.

“E-Townz is both an e-business and social media platform and is built as a network of interlinked community websites,” Kennedy says.

“Each website has its own distinct branding, URL and user base to shape out the character and needs of a particular community.”

Testing times

The company launched a version of e-Townz in Co Laois in October and it is currently running in Camross, Abbeyleix, Portarlington and Mountmellick. Next January the company will roll out the finished product. Its typical users will be local sports clubs, public bodies, businesses and residents who can log on and engage with what’s happening in their areas.

Kennedy says two things inspired the e-Townz concept, the explosion of community Facebook pages and the struggle faced by small businesses to compete with shopping centres and supermarket chains.

“I grew up in a family with its own butcher shop and in the 1990s we witnessed the transformation of the retail sector away from local independent retailers to large-scale supermarkets and multistore complexes,” he says.

“Local businesses could no longer compete for convenience offline. However, I felt that if we could bring them together as a group they would have the technology, the market and the presence to compete with the major stores online.

“Facebook is great as far as it goes but it is just a wall feed with very limited functionality,” Kennedy adds.

“By contrast, e-Townz can accommodate a whole array of social media and e-business functions. We are initially focusing on rural communities but there is no reason why this concept wouldn’t work within a city in Rathmines or Ranelagh, for example.”

Revenue models

Kennedy is operating two different revenue models. The first is where a community buys the system outright and pays a yearly maintenance fee.

The second is a partnership arrangement whereby Kennedy will supply the system and a local Chamber of Commerce, for example, will undertake to find enough local businesses willing to pay an annual fee of about €250 to support the system.

“We cannot find any direct competitors that offer the range of services we provide at this distinctly local level,” Kennedy says.

"We are probably somewhere between Facebook, Google Business, Yelp and Feedme.ie but with a very local focus.

"The idea has been two years in development and from January 2015 we can roll it out to any number of communities across Ireland very quickly."

Kennedy’s company currently employs four people full-time with another six working on a project basis. Staff numbers are set to double next year.

The platform has cost Kennedy more time than money to develop. In hard cash he has spent about €25,000, which has been self-funded.

Late nights

He didn’t keep a tally of the amount of time he invested but says the hours involved were considerable and included many late nights and long weekends. “My true passion is e-services which means looking at the mechanics of society and developing web-based platforms that address issues within a particular social group,” he says.

"I am an active member of Open Data Ireland and I have a keen interest in eGovernment. I am also the co-founder of e-Tender Solutions, a B2B procurement platform.

“Most web services are designed to be the best in Ireland or the world. For us it’s all about local,” Kennedy says. “We are continuing to invest and develop the platform and will roll out a mobile app in early 2015 as well as a number of system upgrades.”