The era of Silicone Valley dominance in all things technology related is over. Good tech start ups can come from anywhere. That's the word from Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom.

One of the icon's of the California tech sector, ears perk up when Zennstrom says Silicone Valley's no longer the centre of the tech universe. Nowadays a good idea is all that's needed, and it can come from California or Ireland or anywhere.

Zennstrom and his business partner Janus Friis created the Skype technology that allows 600 million people to stay in touch worldwide. Today people can make free voice calls via broadband or their smart phones, all thanks to Skype.

Zennstrom and Friis sold Skype to eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion. Then in 2009, Zennstrom was part of the consortium that bought Skype from eBay. Now he sits on the board of the internet telephone company he helped create.

"Today we are not as much dependent on hotbeds like Silicon Valley so I think there is no reason why the next Google or Facebook or Skype is not going to come from Ireland as anywhere else in the world," Zennstrom told the press.