WORLDWIDE MARKET RESEARCH REPORT - CISE

EC/IST FP6 Project No 026920
Work Package: 6
Type of document: Report
Date: 20.12.2007
File name: OP_WP6_D37_V1.0.doc Version: 1.0
Title: Worldwide Market Research Report 184 / 356
5.3.8.2 Opportunities
[E28] Though still a promise largely unfulfilled, the countries in transition could now leapfrog
whole stages of development by adopting novel technologies and through them the
expensive Western research they embody. The East can learn from the West's mistakes
and, by avoiding them, achieve a competitive edge.
Technology is a social phenomenon with social implications. It fosters entrepreneurship and
social mobility. By allowing the countries in transition to skip massive investments in
outdated technologies, the cellular phone, internet, cable TV, and the satellite become
shortcuts to prosperity.
Poverty is another invaluable advantage: with the exception of Slovenia, Estonia, Croatia
and the Czech Republic, the population of the countries in transition is poor, sometimes
inordinately so. Looming and actual penury is a major driver of entrepreneurship, initiative
and innovation. Wealth formation and profit seeking are motivated by indigence, both
absolute and relative. The poor seek to better their position in the world by becoming middle-
class. They invest in education, in small businesses, in consumer products, in future
generations.
One of the eastern country that is much more investing the last years is the Romania.
[E29] “As EU member state, Romania aims at developing the information society as basic
pillar of the Lisbon strategy enforcement, but also within the central and local administration,
in view of better public services”, said Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
"In this respect, Romanian Government promotes not only the development of the IT&C
sector as one of economy's sectors, but also the presence of these applications in the
structures of the central and local administration, the creation of efficient bridges between
the big cities and the local communities", Tariceanu underscored.
According the Prime Minister, Romania is now one of the most dynamic markets in IT and
communications. Despite this, Tariceanu showed there are still important gaps between
Romania and the other member states of the Union. In his opinion, the gaps consist not only
in infrastructure, but also in the fact the IT networks concentrate around the big towns and
less in smaller localities or rural areas. In this context, the prime minister pleaded for
avoiding a technologic polarization.