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
b) differentiation strategies that place emphasis on similar products/services, c) focus on
niche markets and d) emphasis on their organizational flexibility. The later strategy supports
the rest, since it permits to a firm to adjust more easily to changes in the business
environment.
Another bundle of strategies involves actions that concern both the external and the internal
environment of firms: a) emphasis on the human capital, by creating an attractive working
environment that keeps, promotes, and attracts well trained workforce, b) differentiation in
new products/ services, c) effectiveness of internal operations and improvement in
productivity (it refers to actions that a firm can take in order to improve its internal
operations, to identify its weaknesses and strengths, and thus, to become more competitive),
d) creating strategic alliances with other firms, as an alternative for the limited inclination to
M&A.
By summing up, ICT firms seem to be aware of the points they should focus on: innovation,
value added, human capital, and flexibility. However, an issue that arises is whether they can
apply successfully these strategies. Not all firms have the resources and capabilities or have
the will to commit to a strategic plan with the aforementioned characteristics. There are,
though, some good examples showing that some firms can succeed towards that direction
and become competitive at an international level, influencing positively the sector as a whole.
Business R&D is limited, but there are some research agents that collaborate with
academia
Although several firms of the sector state that they carry out R&D, there is rather a limited
interest in in-house R&D. However, R&D constitutes an important dimension of innovation, as
it contributes to new knowledge creation, while it supports the transformation of
technological advancements in innovative products and services. Nevertheless, the definition
of innovation is quite broad, as it refers to any improved product /service that is launched in
the market, or an improvement of the internal processes (not strictly technological ones).
Within this framework, worldwide technological developments support domestic firms.
Consequently, ICT sector is one of the most innovative in the country, as it is argued by
innovation surveys carried out by the EU (CIS, SIS22).
Furthermore, research activity in the most important Greek Universities and research centres
show that there is a core of firms, which collaborate with the academia, either via
22 The Greek enterprises of information technology are first in the rank in the Sector-based Table of
Innovation (Sectoral Innovation Scorecard-SIS) of the European Committee (2004)
October 2006
Observatory for the Greek IS 30