The quality of IT graduates, stringent IP protection, broadband penetration and the generation of IT-related patents have been named as some of the crucial ingredients that make a country’s IT industry more competitive, according to a report put out by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in September.
The study, entitled Resilience amid turmoil: Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness 2009 and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), also ranked five Asia-Pacific economies among the top 20 nations in terms of the competitiveness of their IT industries: Australia (seventh), Singapore (ninth), Japan (12th), Taiwan (15th) and South Korea (16th).
Coordinated efforts among governments, universities and IT firms in the Asia Pacific are needed to improve the quality of technology training and expand the pool of potential new staff. Less than a quarter of India’s IT graduates can be considered employable, estimated Manoj Vohra, director of research, EIU.
He added that many graduates in Asia are too technical in nature. EIU recommends that IT training would benefit from greater investment in business studies and language skills.
While there are robust IP enforcement laws in place, the lengthy and expensive process of litigation can be very costly to a small or medium IT firm. Governments in Asia can take note that in Germany, where a fast-track litigation process aims to cut down the process to one single day and cost only about less than a quarter of a million Euros, Vohra said.
Push Factors
Broadband pervasiveness is an important factor for IT competitiveness, as technology firms demand fast, reliable and secure Internet access. High broadband penetration is one of the push factors that Australia and Singapore are the top two Asian nations in the index. In comparison, for China and India, which are ranked 39 and 44 in the world rankings, have broadband penetration rates below the 20 per cent mark.
“With broadband access becoming a prerequisite for many parts of the IT sector, economies with pervasive broadband penetration have a big competitive advantage over those where the infrastructure is lacking,” said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA vice president and regional director, Asia Pacific.
Singapore ranked third in the category of innovation environment, owing to its strong support for R&D and its IT firms’ record of patenting innovations. Likewise, Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese firms are among the most prolific generators of IT patents in Asia.
“Governments and industry leaders must pay closer attention than ever to ensure they have the right policies in place to maximise the benefits of a globally competitive IT industry,” said Vohra.
