Writing a book has become the dream of many Irish people, the result of a literary heritage which raises hopes of a great novel being in all of us.

But when Gerry McGovern was approached to write a book about the effect of the Internet on business, his publisher, Blackhall Publishing, was surprised with what he came up with.

Over two years, at weekends and in the evenings, Mr McGovern wrote a thoughtful script about the evolution of man and the tools he uses, the development of computers and the advent of the Internet. He describes the Internet as the latest in a series of tools which began with rocks and clubs.

The 400-page book, The Caring Economy, is based on the principle that most economies are based on cares and desires. But the prevailing philosophies in recent decades have been on cost reduction, even though it often plays a small role in purchasing decisions and no part in the development of the Internet. "I buy clothes that are not just warm. They say something. Manchester United jerseys are a crazy price to buy," he says.

The development of information technology (IT) has revolved around cost reduction and reducing workforces, but the Internet, "fundamentally about communication", has turned that function on its head. "The Internet is humanising the computer," he says.

Organisations which have come through the cost-cutting phase associated with the adoption of IT are wondering how they can now achieve value, which the book focuses on. "It is basically trying to get business principles to operate in this new economy."

It prescribes putting people first, whether customers or staff, and empowering them. "A lot of business models on the Internet are not based on products but based on consumer sites. Amazon [the online bookseller] assembles around a site of customers and then looks to sell those customers a range of products."

He describes the Internet as inherently a network and inherently empowering, pointing to women, children, the elderly and minority groups who have increasingly emerged as purchasing forces.

He believes the State can follow the example of Israel in using the Internet to access markets, although he says that Irish senior management "have not bought into the Internet that I am aware of". "This is our chance to have a new renaissance and be proud of ourselves . . . We have to create our own jobs, not depend on other people for them. The days of Intel and Apple will not be here forever."

The role of advertising and marketing plays a crucial part in a company's strategy of developing e-commerce. Amazon has a huge marketing budget. "The problem is that there are eight million websites. The ones with the money are trying to stand out, and lots of them will fall by the wayside."

The trick now is to focus on the value delivered rather than the costs saved, and on the quality of how information is delivered. Gerry McGovern grew up on a farm in Co Longford near the village of Gowna and played football at county level. He is aware of the contrast of that lifestyle when compared with today's. He can drive a donkey and cart but now uses a 1999 Hyundai to get across the city to his home in Swords, uses electronic doors at work and makes his living from the virtual world of the Internet. As chief executive of Nua, a consultancy for Internet development, he gives winning presentations on building brands and adopting strategies for the World Wide Web. He also sends out a newsletter, New Thinking, which reaches about 180,000 people a week and has made Nua a recognised authority on Internet development, mentioned by Fortune in its April edition.

Mr McGovern's muses - Yeats, Beckett, Kavanagh and Joyce - look out at you from behind his desk. He says he is not the usual chief executive, having been "on the dole" for many years and at various times been a poet, a novelist and a freelance journalist. He is married to the poet, Maighread Medbh.

After going to school in St Mell's College, Longford, he went to the College of Marketing in Dublin, learning a little about computer programming. His first job was for a distribution company installing computers. But he left to become a writer "and musician to some degree". "The music did not really work out. I spent a lot of time either travelling or writing or reading."

He became interested in computers again and after some freelance writing, convinced the National Software Directorate to commission a report on the Internet. "I did that report and it allowed me to do a huge amount of research," he says.

Nua followed, although not without its problems. At one point, the directors focused all their attention on one particular investor. "The deal did not come through and we were in pretty dire straits," he says.

The company currently has about 80 people and has grown from having just three founder members in 1995. This year, he expects the business to have a £2 million (€2.54 million) turnover, 80 per cent of which will come from abroad. He cites a US project in which Nua has taken an equity stake and which he hopes will earn the company between $7 million (€6.7 million) and $10 million (€9.58 million).

Mr McGovern still loves writing and sees himself "maybe as a philosopher". "I love looking at things and thinking about things and wondering why things happen, and what impact this has on this," he says.