German IT companies expect 2010 to become a prosperous year
One of the hardest winters ever in Europe make people think about how to avoid going out in the cold, driving a car on slippy roads or even get stuck in the snow overnight. Even though in Germany only the Northern part was really affected by the weather the German Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) revealed that these temperatures will have an impact on the building sector including the suppliers loosing up to two billion Euros of added value.
Looking at other areas like the IT industry that are not so much affected by the weather German IT companies tend to be very positive regarding the future. Four out of five say even though the crisis is not over yet 2010 will be a prosperous year. The IT industry is a problem solver especially in a crisis: it helps the companies and at the same time saves them money. The growth is expected to be driven mainly by Germany and to some part from other ccountries in Western Europe followed by Asia and Eastern Europe.
Experts say that this development could be supported by the German government allowing tax reduction to support the research in order to make the German market more attractive. IDS Scheer, one of the market leaders in Business Process Management, is considering the IT sector as one of the stabilisers of the German economy.
And, once it has survived the winter the building sector will hopefully become stable again as well.
Bettina Joedicke
GBC Germany
Ofcom on message?
A recent study by Ofcom revealed that around 30% of people in the UK don’t have an internet connection at the moment. The same survey also highlights that 43% of these people would stay offline if they were offered a free computer and broadband. Main reasons for not having internet at home was a lack of interest or need. These results seem to indicate that a lot of work is still to be done to engage this group and highlight the benefits the internet can bring both to their lives and work.
According to the much awaited Digital Britain report which will be published today (lots of buzz around this on Twitter), everyone in Britain could be guaranteed broadband access by 2012 at speeds of 2Mb per second. Ofcom’s report reveals that average broadband speeds across the UK are currently around 3.6Mb. While these sorts of speeds are adequate for general browsing and online shopping, activities like downloading music, online gaming and streaming video, making the most of services like BBC iPlayer, will prove to be a challenge for most. Add to this, currently, rural connections are not good enough for even basic surfing most of the time, in some cases connection is even non-existent.
So what else needs to be done to make Britain truly digital? As with any service, maybe there is scope to target broadband offers more specifically to certain target groups, making the internet experience relevant to where you are, who you are and what you’re trying to do online.
For example with the iPhone fever taking over the globe, Nationwide Insurance recently launched a new advertising campaign promoting how customers could utilise their iPhone in the event of an accident, highlighting the various features such as GPS and camera.
Therefore a campaign showing how David Jones, 73, uses the internet to stay in touch with his family in Australia would surely be much more effective than terms such as fibre, 50Mbps and social networks.
Tech Sector "Faring Better" than Last Downturn
Bright spot in US tech unemployed figures?
Interesting article in the latest issue of BusinessWeek that analyses the effects of the recession on the tech sector. And how refreshing to hear that it ain’t all bad!
While sectors such as retail, construction and finance are being severely hit, US technology sector jobs are faring better than they did after the dot com bust in 2001. “Then, the unemployment rate of tech workers was over 7% and now it’s at 4.8%.”
Given a lot of tech work is driven by US technology firms, that has to be good news too for EMEA. The skill in any downturn is to spot the emerging growth markets coming out the other side – every recession creates new market opportunities.
I anticipate that in addition to the obvious growth areas like cloud computing and the mobile apps and smart device market, the other technology areas to do well will be both backbone IT infrastructures that improve business performance at reduced cost and solutions from companies like Baynote that provide a richer user experience on the web as brands fight for online customers and seek competitive differentiation and closer engagement.
New Zealand Tech Blog gears up for CeBIT 2008
We’re working for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise again on how they promote their ICT companies at next year’s CeBIT. To provide another channel of information the NZTE team are experimenting with a blog to capture what’s happening in New Zealand ICT and their plans for the March 2008 event
