Digital Entrepreneurship in Cyprus. Moving ahead with the digital agenda in Europe.

1. Cyprus IT Enterprises Association
Andreas Hadjioannou
Member of the Board of Directors

2.  Cyprus Information Technology Enterprises Association
 Under of the auspices of the Cyprus Enterprises and
Instustrialists Federation (OEB)
 Established 1987
 Mission:
◦ To play a determining role in the balanced growth of
information technology in the Cyprus economy acting as a
vehicle of change for the development of the information
society
 65 Members (Almost 100% of ICT companies over 4
employees)
Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011

3.  We define Digital Entrepreneurship as the exploitation and use
of Information and Communication Technologies by Enterprises
in novel ways to create commercial opportunities, disseminate
information, and collaborate with clients and partners
 Digital Entrepreneurship is changing the way we do business,
collaborate and perform transactions and manage our business
 It provides the means by which Enterprises can take advantage
of the Digital Strategy transforming our organizations and in
general economy into a knowledge based economy
 Significant Return on Investment (ROI) and impact on
productivity, growth competiveness and the work
environment, in our business, society and our economy.
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4. Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011

5. Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011

6. Nov 2011
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7.  Local Issues
◦ Economic Crisis
◦ Post-July 11 created situation
◦ Energy hype and potential repercussions (Good and Bad)
◦ The Cyprus problem
 Globalization
◦ Demands of EU Legislative and regulatory framework
◦ International competition at our door steps
◦ Lower profitability
◦ High running costs
 Our Society
◦ Large number of small companies
◦ Heavy competition from large companies
◦ Knowledgeable customers
◦ Increase of Demand for high quality services
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8.  Cyprus falls considerably behind the rest of Europe in the
Information and Communications Technologies sector
 Lack of Digital Strategy or any action plan that will in a
satisfactory degree accommodate benefits of digital economy
 Investment in ICT Research and Development has been minimal
 It is evident that Government and semi-Government institutions
and departments that have the role of managing the Information
Society of this country do not have the flexibility or the level of
productivity and efficiency they need in order to implement the
change this country requires
 We need to implement the proposed strategy and increase the
pace by which we are implementing things
Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011

9. Company size Number %
1 – 9 (Micro) 56,048 93.7
10 – 19 (Small) 3,139 5.2
50 – 249 (Medium) 529 0.9
> 249 (Large) 79 0.1
TOTAL 59,795
Includes Ltd, Partnerships, associations , coops, Individual companies
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10. Nov 2011
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11. Nov 2011
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12. Nov 2011
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13. Nov 2011

14. Nov 2011

15. Nov 2011
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16. Nov 2011
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17. 2010 Nov 2011
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18. Nov 2011
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19.  Approximately 65 companies
 Share of the ICT sector in Cyprus is small as a
percentage of employment: approximately 2%
compared to a EU average of closer to 6%
 A number of global name brands
 With a few exceptions, a fragmented group of SMEs
that supply locally and do not have the capability to
grow and develop.
 Very little R&D is undertaken and there is little
innovation
Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011

20.  Total market 2010 approx. € 150M
 Broken down by
◦ Infrastructure 55%
◦ Applications and Services 35%
◦ Tools 10%
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21.  Proposed Digital Strategy includes measures required to
level with the EU Digital Agenda
 It is broad, flexible and covers Public and Private sector
 There is a lot to do and requires collaboration by all
stakeholders to make it succeed
 In doing so, the rest of the countries will have moved
forward keeping the digital gap with Cyprus but at a
smaller size
 Requires prioritization and a feasible action plan
 Requires political commitment and investment
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22.  Framework by which we can achieve compliance to EU Digital
Agenda and also set the foundations for an action plan towards
Digital Entrepreneurship
 We are so behind that any action we implement will have an
immediate impact
 High number of university educated workforce (over 70% from
countries abroad)
 Though late enough, it will help towards a Digital Recovery
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23.  Large number of small companies
 Too good in Strategy formulation BUT very bad
implementers
 We have the most expensive and slowest Internet
 Lack of political commitment
 Lack of vision for ICT
 Delays in the finalization and implementation of the
Digital Strategy
 Heavy bureaucracy
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24.  Lack of culture and incentives towards innovation and
investment for ICT companies for Enterprises
 Measures and plans towards research on ICT and
innovation are focused on long term academic
research than industry related research
 There are considerable delays in introducing
government ICT projects (new and upgrades)
 Delays and heavy costs in procurement
 Difficult to participate in Government projects
 Lack of Private Public Partnership
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25.  Promote Cyprus as a center of services using ICT
 Small country, ideal for Pilot ICT projects
 Utilize skills from young people, currently unemployed
 Build datacenters to host cloud applications
 Ideal for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Services
 Green ICT Research and Development
 ICT can become a major pillar for the Government
towards converting Cyprus in a regional center for high
quality services
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26.  Globalization
 Presence of dynamic regional competitors
 Other countries around us are exploiting our
opportunities
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27.  Incentives towards ICT with emphasis on improving
productivity and minimizing costs
 ICT innovation in Enterprises
 Measures towards allowing ICT companies to penetrate
other markets
 Measures towards cooperation between the Industry and
Universities or Research and Development
 Focus on short term R&D involving ICT companies
 Promotion of collaboration with international
Organizations on Research transfer of technology
 Measures towards research and development of new
products and services
 Public Private Partnership
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28.  Cloud Computing
◦ Software as Service (SaaS)
◦ Platform as Service (PaaS)
◦ Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
 Collaboration
 Next generation Business Intelligence and data
analytical tools
 Mobility
 Social Media
 Business Process Management (BPM)
 Green ICT
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29. Competiveness
Innovation
Collaboration
Investment
Costs Reduction
E- Skills
Knowledge Workers
Productivity
ECONOMY
RECOVERY
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30. Going Local II – Cyprus 25-Nov-2011