Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece

Study of the ICT sector in Greece: Current Situation and Future Trends
Deliverable 14: Prospects of the ICT sector in Greece-policy implications
In the last section a grid of proposed directions and proposals is presented. These proposals
concern: a) the actions of the sector’s firms and b) proposals at the level of public policy.
Policies affect the ICT sector is two ways: first, affecting either directly or indirectly the
demand for ICTs products/ services, and second, determining the general characteristics of
the firms’ business environment. These proposals touch upon both the specialized public
policies for the Information Society (IS) and broader actions that are related rather indirectly
to ICT firms but affect the domestic environment. The deliverable is also includes three
appendices, which incorporate several observations of the previous publications.
3. The broad economic environment
The following section presents the current macroeconomic conditions of global and Greek
economies, in order to examine the framework within which the domestic ICT sector is
developed. The short-term economic conditions are one of the basic factors that will have an
impact on the activity of the sectors being studied. If the economic developments are
positive, it should be expected that the ICT sector will grow, under the condition that firms
will be in the position to exploit the opportunities. Thus, the sector’s prospects are dependent
on the international and domestic environment within which the ICTs firms operate, but also
on their specific characteristics and strategies that will define their capability to respond to
these changes and new conditions.
3.1. Global and European Economy
3.1.1. The Global Economy
In recent years the global economy is undergoing rapid growth. However, the growth rates of
developed and developing economies considerably differentiate, as the later’s rates are more
than double than the former (Table 1). It should be noted that China grown during 2005 at a
rate of more than 10% in comparison to the 3.2 % of the USA. This drift gradually changes
the importance of the relevant markets, as the commercial flows from and to the developing
countries are increasing (faster rates of imports and exports). This implies the increased
importance of the developing economies for the global demand, and the global
economy.
In 2007, the global economy is predicted to keep on growing at a high rate, although at a
slower rate than in 2006. The rise of the world trade also presents a proportional
deceleration. Nevertheless, these optimistic estimations are dependent on a number of
economic and political perplexities that may influence the global economy. The possible
increase of the rate of interests, oil price, and the inflation are indicative of an economic
insecurity. Furthermore, the continuing war operations at the broader area of Iraq and the
development of international terrorism are fundamental factors of political perplexities.
October 2006
Observatory for the Greek IS 10