Technology allows people to choose where they work. The opportunity for towns like Omagh is to give them a good reason to stay.
Choice Changes the Question
Technology is changing how work is done, but it has not changed what people value. AI and digital technology help businesses to operate from almost anywhere. Teams can work remotely, decisions can be made online and services can be delivered across distance. For many years, the belief was that this would make location less important. I think it changes the question. When people have more choice, the issue is no longer about where to work. It is about where people want to work.
That matters for towns like Omagh. For years, many jobs moved to larger cities because businesses needed infrastructure, connectivity and access to skills that were easier to find there. Those things can now be provided in different ways. Good digital infrastructure, flexible workspace and skilled people can come together outside large cities. A business can serve customers around the world while operating from different locations. The important question is less about whether work can happen here and more about whether people want to be here.
Make the Choice Practical
The Digi-Hub in Omagh is one example of what that looks like. It has attracted digital and technology firms, cyber-security companies, creative businesses and remote workers. Some are early-stage businesses. Others are established and operate internationally. What they have in common is that they have more choice about where they work. For many, working locally simply makes sense. A well-run digital hub makes that choice practical by providing reliable connectivity, quality workspace and a place to meet others. It allows people to build careers while remaining part of the community in which they live.
There are other benefits too. Working locally means less time commuting, more activity during the day and more spending in the local area. None of these change a town overnight, but the effects add up over time. More activity creates demand and demand gives other businesses confidence to invest. Over weeks and months, a town can begin to feel as though it is moving forward rather than helplessly waiting for something to happen.
Give People a Reason to Choose Omagh
Technology will not automatically strengthen a town and AI will not always spread economic growth evenly. Large cities will continue to have important advantages. But smaller towns now have opportunities that were hard to imagine in the past. The opportunity is not to copy cities. It is to make the most of what towns can offer: good places to work, strong digital infrastructure, shorter journeys, affordable space and the ability to remain close to family and community.
That changes how we should think about local economic development. It is not only about bringing jobs to a town. It is also about making the town a place where people want to be. If a business can operate from anywhere, what makes it choose one town rather than another? If a skilled person can work for an international company without moving away, what makes them want to stay? The answer is different for every person and every business, but the right conditions need to be created. Towns need the right buildings, reliable connectivity, good services, well-managed workspace and a strong sense of community. Without those things, people may have a choice in theory, but not in practice.
That changes what towns like Omagh need to do. The opportunity is not simply to create jobs or provide workspace. It is to create an environment that makes people want to be here. That means attractive places to work and a community that supports the life people want to live.
When people can work from almost anywhere, the advantage belongs to places that give them a good reason to stay. Omagh has a real opportunity to become one of those places.
