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
collaborations subsidised by Community and national resources or even with private funding.
These collaborations offered a significant route against the limited R&D environment in
Greece, as it is reflected in the increased participation to Framework Programmes since 1984.
For example, 234 Greek firms participated in the IST Program (5th Framework Programme)
that included 2203 research projects. This performance ranks Greece 6th in Europe. This
indicates that Greek ICT firms are substantially represented, in comparison to other countries,
even those being more technologically advanced than Greece. Is should also be mentioned
that two important ICT research centres operate in peripheral areas of Greece (Crete and
Patras) which could support the birth and growth of some spin-offs firms, building on high
quality resources and capabilities from the nearby universities.
These facts indicate that there are cores of research activity that in collaboration with
Research Centres and Universities can promote innovative products/ services for the Greek
market and give solutions for applications of the new technology, developed abroad.
Direction for this research activity could involve: adaptation and integration of the existing
technology in the Greek environment, software adjusted to the Greek firms’ needs, digital
content, e-government applications, e-learning and e-health, telecommunication networks,
etc. These activities can add value to the existing products/ services. Thus, they can become
more attractive for users or give solutions to technical cost issues of the firms, releasing
resources for other activities. Moreover, they can utilize the advanced capabilities of the
workforce in the sector, as these capabilities are not yet fully explored.
Financial recovery after 2002 and possible growth possibilities: turnover increase for
2006 and 2007
Although the results of recession in demand during 2000-2002 internationally and the
misjudgements in investment choices in the internal financial market have not yet surpassed,
the sector seems to have recovered financially and follows a course of upturn during 2002-
2004. The general conditions are influenced by the behaviour of OTE (high losses in 2004),
while a positive picture is noted in the mobile carriers. The remaining firms show some
satisfactory results in 2004, increasing the turnover and their net profits.
Small enterprises of 11-49 employees are relatively dynamic, as several of them are the ones
that contribute to the growth of the whole sector. On the contrary, medium-sized firms (50-
249 employees) were weak to maintain the important rise of turnover and net profits in 2003,
which resulted to a deceleration in 2004. Large firms also show some satisfactory results,
while bad results of specific firms are counterbalanced by good performance of some of the
October 2006
Observatory for the Greek IS 31