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ICT market forecast to grow 11.2% this year

April 26th, 2012
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The market for information and communications technology is expected to grow 11.2 per cent this year to Bt591.6 billion, of which Bt444.4 billion is in the telecommunication segment. The rest is computer hardware, software and services.

According to a report by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre and the Software Industry Promotion Agency, the highest growth in the ICT market is in tablet sales. This segment is projected to grow by 143 per cent exclusive of the government’s One Tablet Per Child project. Tablet sales are forecast at 2.4 million units, up from only 480,000 last year.

The second-highest growth is in mobile non-voice services, projected at 34.2 per cent to reach Bt46.5 billion, while smart phones are expected to grow by 27.7 per cent to Bt37.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the desktop-computer market is expected to drop by 9.1 per cent – from 1.32 million units last year to 1.2 million units in 2012. That is less than in 2010, when sales were about 1.29 million units.

However, the notebook market is continuing its growth. This year sales are expected to grow by 11.4 per cent to about 2.25 million units, from 2.02 million units last year and 1.89 million units in 2010.

The Internet market – individual users of both narrow band and broadband – this year is expected to increase by 12.1 per cent to about Bt29.1 billion, while the Internet leased-line market will grow by 9 per cent.

Revenue for mobile services, including voice and non-voice service, this year will show hugely different growth rates. Non-voice service will grow by 34.2 per cent, while voice service expands by only 1.8 per cent. However, in terms of market value, mobile voice still has the bigger share. The mobile voice market this year is projected at Bt130.1 billion, while non-voice is forecast at Bt46.5 billion.

Factors driving growth of the ICT market include demand for computer replacement, new technology such as ultrabooks, the growth of cloud computing, and government investments such as the One Tablet Per Child project. Negative factors are unstable economic situations causing people to postpone their spending.

The upcoming auction of licences for third-generation cellular service is expected to be a driving factor for ICT spending this year.

Source:http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/ICT-market-forecast-to-grow-11-2-this-year-30180716.html

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01 Synergy to Exhibit at ICT Expo Hong Kong 2012

April 9th, 2012
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Team 01 Synergy is excited and looking forward to participate in the 9th edition of HKTDC International ICT Expo. The HKTDC International ICT Expo is a powerful leading Asian trade event, linking information and communications technology product and service providers with buyers from around the world. More than 570 exhibitors from all over the world will showcase their latest products and solutions at the fair. Group pavilions include representatives from Australia, Canada, the Chinese mainland, India, the Philippines and Taiwan. We cordially invite you to visit us. Our booth number is 3G-E28 in Hall 3.

logo

The main points of focus for this event will be:

  • Mobile Software Development
  • Rich Internet Application Development
  • E-Commerce Solutions
  • Legacy Application Re-Engineering
  • Custom Software Application Development
  • Consultancy
  • QA & Testing
  • Offshore IT Staffing

As a software development company, 01 Synergy has always provided innovative & cost effective solutions to its clients helping them to stay ahead of their competitors. 01 Synergy has also successfully maintained the trend of delivering superior quality applications to the clients in a timely fashion.

Drop by our stand 3G-E28 in Hall 3 and speak with us about your technology needs and lets discuss on how we can help you.

For more information visit us online at:
Web: www.01synergy.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/01STweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/01Synergy

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ICT helps the blind

January 31st, 2012
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A portable voice-based computer for the blind, developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been shortlisted in the South African Breweries (SAB) Foundation inaugural Innovation Awards.
The notetaker device is the first invention of its kind in South Africa and was developed by Willem van der Walt, a blind researcher at the CSIR.

Fellow researcher Gerhard van den Berg was also involved in the development of the product.

Van der Walt is respected in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) for disabilities.

Rewarding innovation

The SAB Foundation Innovation Awards recognise individuals who have unique and practical ideas that can improve the lives of people living in low-income areas.

The main award is a grant of R1-million (US$128 000) with two runner-up awards of R500 000 ($64 000) each.

The notetaker is one of five recipients of a seed grant for further development. The grant includes funding for the commercialisation of the product, which will be supported by the SAB Foundation over a period of two years.

The notetaker was shortlisted as one of 18 inventions, selected from more than 100 entries, for improving the lives of blind South Africans.

According to 2009 statistics of the World Health Organisation, 314-million people worldwide live with some form of visual impairment. Of these, 45-million are blind, and 90% live in low-income countries. Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in middle- and low-income countries.

About 2.6-million South Africans are disabled, of which 24% have visual disabilities.

“As a blind programmer, I realised that a much more flexible, localised and cheaper machine could be built than other similar expensive accessibility devices for the blind, available from overseas,” Van der Walt says.

Not your ordinary notebook computer

The notetaker is different from a standard notebook computer in that it does not have a screen and only uses speech as feedback to its user.

The computer has a keyboard for input and a voice synthesiser for output.

All its features are customised so that they can be used with a speech interface.

The device provides support for multiple local languages, including English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Setswana and an experimental isiZulu voice.

Van der Walt says that finding a balance between cost and functionality was one of the biggest challenges of developing the notetaker.

“Finding the suitable hardware for the software was challenging,” he explains. “For example, finding hardware with which one can make a good audio recording is not easy when cost, battery life and size is crucial.”

The notetaker has been tested in the market at disability conferences and workshops, with successful results.

It is also supported by the South African National Council for the Blind.

The next phase of the project is to develop a production-ready prototype.

Commercialising the product

“I would like the notetaker to come into production and be available in the market through specialised companies such as those currently supplying accessibility technology to the blind,” he says.

The customised computer device is easy to operate and can be used by young school children, university students and older people.

There is a gap in the market for an affordable computer for the blind. He believes that the product has the potential to have an immediate impact in the educational and employment sectors.

Blind people can use computers that are connected to Braille keyboards and screens, but the skill and technology is not widely available and is usually only imported.

However, if the product is manufactured locally and is cost effective, it could change the lives of thousands of blind people.

The National Accessibility Programme

Van der Walt’s research was part of the National Accessibility Programme.

The main focus of the five-year research and innovation initiative is to help people with disabilities become more integrated into mainstream society, through the use of ICT.

The project was developed by the CSIR Meraka Institute in partnership with a representative group of Disabled Persons’
Organisations and the former Office on the Status of Disabled Persons in the Presidency.

The Meraka Institutes the largest group in South Africa dedicated to ICT research.

Source:http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/574/69987.html

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Government to reduce hardware spend as ICT curriculum axed

January 12th, 2012
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Education secretary Michael Gove plans to divert the government’s schools technology spending away from hardware and scrap ICT as a curriculum subject.

ChannelWeb was among the delegates addressed by Gove at the annual Bett show, which opened at London’s Olympia today. The education chief opened his address by explaining that basic teaching methods were set for a radical shift, having changed little “since Plato established the earliest Akademia”.

“The fundamental model of school education is still a teacher talking to a group of pupils,” said Gove. “A Victorian teacher in a 21st century classroom would feel completely at home. But that model won’t be the same in 20 years’ time. It may not even exist in 10.”

The education secretary criticised previous administrations for investing in tech slowly and ineffectively.

“There is a temptation to spend huge sums on hardware, which is obsolete before the ink is dry on the contract, and on [developing] skills and techniques that become superseded in the real world almost as soon as they are learned,” he said.

Gove told attendees that the government needed to focus on the central question of, “What can technology do for learning?” He concluded that there are three key answers to this: augmenting teaching; creating new styles of learning; and enabling better assessment of education.

The government wants to shift away from big-ticket product frameworks and siphon money towards developing the technology skills of education professionals.

“When it comes to thinking about how the government will spend its money, we do not want to focus too much on hardware and procurement. We want to focus on investing in individuals. We need to train teachers so they can make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead,” explained Gove.

He went on to outline his view, one that he claimed is shared by teachers and tech bodies alike, that the current ICT curriculum is not fit for purpose. The pace of change in the tech sphere necessitates a change in how we teach computing skills, he asserted.

“Disruptive technology has to push us to think about the curriculum,” he said. “We have a problem with the current ICT curriculum: teachers and campaign groups have told us it is offputting, demotivating and dull. It has to change, and change rapidly.”

The coalition wants to move away from “children being bored out of their minds being taught Word and Excel by teachers who are even more bored”. With this in mind, the government is entering into a consultation period, with a view to axing ICT from the compulsory curriculum from the next school year.

“If a new computer science GCSE [were to meet] high standards of intellectual depth and practical value, we would consider including it [as an optional subject] on the English Baccalaureate,” added Gove (pictured).

The UK fundamentally needs a “new national curriculum concentrating on the essentials”, he said, while adding that “a more collaborative wiki approach” was needed to develop the finer points and devolve power to individual establishments.

“I have set out a direction of travel, but there is more to come and we will have more to say over the course of this year,” he concluded.

Source:http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2136841/government-looks-scale-hardware-spend-ict-curriculum-axed

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4,100 schools to get ICT hardware

January 5th, 2012
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Keltron will shortly invite a Rs.40-crore national-level tender for buying computer hardware for more than 4,100 schools in the State that come under the “ICT in School” scheme of the Union government. The implementing agency is the IT@School project of the State government.

This year, the tenders are being called for approximately 8,000 laptops, 7,500 desktop computers, 2,500 multimedia projectors, 1,000 UPS(uninterrupted power supply) units, and 1,000 multifunction (print-scan-copy) printers. Each school will receive equipment that cost Rs.1 lakh. In government high schools with a high student strength, the amount can go up to Rs.2.5 lakh. The tender is being called based on the lists sent by various schools.

G. Jayshankar, former Principal of Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, will lead the technical committee which will look into the specifications of hardware and other technicalities.
Benefits

The benefits made through this scheme will be put to use in other schemes for providing different equipment to schools. Last year, 10,000 laptops and 18,000 netbooks were bought based on the ICT scheme. The teachers were permitted to buy laptops and netbooks through this scheme and it was found that more than 10,000 teachers made use of this service.

Since many schools are using the free software developed by IT@School, the government receives a minimum profit of Rs.15 crore in the software division. Customised versions of operating systems, Office package, graphics, multimedia, video editing, animation, and GIS software, and educational software are being provided by IT@School. This provides major profit as against the use of proprietary software that require spending at least Rs.35,000 a computer.

“IT@School is not only providing hardware to schools. All the equipment will be insured,” K. Anwar Sadat, executive director of the project, said.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/article2773981.ece

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‘Govt should enact policies to aid ICT growth’

December 29th, 2011
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President of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), Mrs Florence Seriki, has urged the Federal Government and stakeholders in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry to take advantage of convergence of ICT to move the nation forward.

Mrs Seriki said the newly-created Ministry of Communications Technology provides an opportunity for stakeholders to seal the union between Information Technology and communications.

She said this in her acceptance speech and swearing-in as president of ITAN in Abuja, adding that ITAN was prepared to work with the Federal Government and network operators to ensure Nigerians enjoy the benefit of convergence.

According to her, the computers and other hardware that members of ITAN sell are usually equipped with Wi-Fi facilities that are poorly utilised as a result of poor Internet facilities offered by the nation’s Internet Service Providers and network operators.

She said: “We plan to get the new ministry to marry IT with communications to get ICT. Communications services such as hotspots and Wi-Fi need to be established as Internet service, in the country is very poor compared to other parts of the world.

“Major ICT events and conferences can then favour ITAN members in hardware and this will enhance their businesses.”

The ITAN boss, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Omatek Computers, regretted that the zero duty rate enjoyed by knocked-down ICT products during the tenure of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, has been removed.

She said government should put in place policies and environment conducive to growth of Small and Medium Enterprises, entrepreneurship and manufacturing, in order to ensure the survival of businesses and penetration of information technology in the country.

Mrs Seriki said: “Government must focus on developing manufacturing and SMEs industry as a major factor for creating employment and empowering youths. The Asians declared local policies to promote local patronage and enforced all citizens and government parastatals to buy locally-made products. Several incentives were created to promote their locally-produced products.

“Hence, we want to work with the Federal Government and the ICT ministry in the launch of a major local patronage campaign championed by Mr President and mandating government agencies to enforce this.

“Duty gaps between foreign and local personal computer and products are required to give incentive to locally-made products. For example, zero per cent for locally-made products and 10 per cent for imported products. This was in force, but now disregarded.”

The ITAN boss noted that promoting local SMEs and manufacturing in the ICT sector would create employment for many Nigerian youths, promote technology transfer, and enhance Research and Development prospects.

“It would also facilitate technology know-how, contribute to driving the economy, promote local content and empower youths,” she added.

Mrs Seriki assured that her tenure as ITAN chief would promote joint partnerships with foreign investors; work with financial institutions to find funding for viable IT ventures; increase membership drive and re-brand ITAN.

She added that the association would work closely with the Ministry of Communications Technology and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to ensure consumption of locally-produced ICT products in the country.

Source:http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/business/infotech/31395-%E2%80%98govt-should-enact-policies-to-aid-ict-growth%E2%80%99.html

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Taiwan ICT majors eye Indian market

October 18th, 2011
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These brands have been equipping Schools and Educational Institutions with innovative, reliable and value worthy ICT products to up competency levels of Indian students, towards synchronizing their skills and capabilities with their international counterparts.
The Indian education sector has been undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts over the past decade and is today one of the fastest growing segments in the country. As India becomes increasingly globalised in terms of educational standards, one of the key role changers, is the surge in adoption rate of technology products in imparting and receiving knowledge. Taiwan’s ICT industry, which comprises some globally renowned players like Acer, BenQ, D-Link, Micro Star International (MSI), Optoma and others, have been working closely with the Indian Govt., NGOs and been effecting several market oriented initiatives to bring the latest and best in quality technology products to Indian teachers and students. These brands have been equipping Schools and Educational Institutions with innovative, reliable and value worthy ICT products to up competency levels of Indian students, towards synchronizing their skills and capabilities with their international counterparts.

All of the above Taiwan ICT players have been awarded the Taiwan Excellence mark, by the Govt. of Taiwan, which represents their innovative and technological edge. They have been making inroads through strategic alliances, engaging platforms to enable audiences get a feel and experience of their technology strengths and product superiority. World leader in projector business BenQ, replicates the same in India, with more than 20% market share and is no.1 in the education segment with 35% market share. In first six months of this year, BenQ has sold more than double the total number of projectors sold in entire previous year, reflecting a 480% growth. “In CY 2011, BenQ has enabled over 15000 classrooms gain access to superior technology by providing more than 20 types of durable and user-friendly projectors designed to meet today’s classroom requirements. Our projectors impart a whole new dimension to the learning experience” says . Rajeev Singh, Country Head, BenQ, India.

Transcend, another Taiwan based leader in storage and multimedia products has also seen ascending sales with more and more school going kids using USB drives to store data. According to . Gordon Wu, South Asia Regional Head of Transcend, they have sold 3.5Mn USB drives in India last year and expect to close 2011 with a 25 percent growth. Recently Saita Trust, a school for the visually handicapped located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, opted for Transcend’s 4GB MP330 MP3 players to cater to their requirement of using audio books as a learning tool for students. This is one of the key indicators of the transformation India’s education space, with the increased use of technology in the form of gadgets, in classrooms and elsewhere and it’s also indicative of the Indian

MSI, Taiwan’s leading Motherboards & laptop manufacturer, engaged with around 1100 students in a computer gaming fest at Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, one of the popular engineering college of Delhi. This was an endeavor from the company’s side to reach out to their potential consumers, wherein the students could have a feel of their power-packed range of products and experience the cutting edge technology.

Optoma, another award-winning projector brand from Taiwan, is the main supplier to Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT), the ICT supplier and semi-official organization of Tamil Nadu state. Optoma is currently working with ELCOT to install few thousands EX615 projectors in schools across Tamil Nadu. In the past, Optoma has partnered with NIIT and ILFS ETS to support their educational initiatives.

Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India said, “Acer is the number one player in the education segment with a market share of 40%%. And this spans both the Government and the private sector. We have a clear strategy to grow our business in India. We have focused and strengthened our presence in various business verticals and education sector has been one of the key focus areas since 2009.

Through our competitive value offering backed by a very robust after-sales support we have been able to reach out to the youth in the country and equip them with the right technology tools to enhance their learning capabilities. There have been several successful projects that we have executed in the last many years such as K-12, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and higher education. Education is the backbone to the economic growth of any country and we are proud to be associated in empowering India’s Gen-Next for the future through our range of offerings that includes Desktops, Notebooks, Netbooks, Servers and Projectors.”

Another Taiwan ICT player, Thermaltake,is considering bringing its global property, the “Thermaltake eSports Triathlon” a learning through fun competition for gaming enthusiasts, blending the most advanced technology and superior performance of PC hardware in the industry with a verity of professionalism training courses. It provides a platform that not only educates, but also helps merge interests, knowledge, comprehensions, and dreams into one package.

These are some key indicators of the transformation in India’s education space, with the increased use of technology in the form of gadgets, in classrooms and elsewhere and it’s also indicative of the trust in the quality and relevance of Taiwan ICT Industry’s products, displayed by the Indian Govt. and NGOs. A trust born of a physical demonstration by these Taiwan to understand the specific needs of the Indian market in terms of technology, aesthetics and cost, and coming up with customized solutions that excite the audiences

Besides the Indian Government’s efforts on upgrading the educational infrastructure across the country encouraging the use of multimedia for teaching, private education institutions have also actively adopted the use of technology products in the teaching process. Most classrooms today see students using laptops, USB drives to store their projects and notes, while teachers use projectors and interactive whiteboards.

Over the years, Taiwan has been at the forefront for introducing cutting edge ICT products all over the world. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) a non-profit trade promotion organization, entrusted by Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan, has last year launched the ‘Taiwan Excellence’ campaign in India with an aim to build preference for the reliable, innovative and worthy Taiwanese ICT products among the discerning young Indian consumers.

Taiwan ICT industry is home to many of the world’s largest makers of computers and associated hardware. Taiwan companies produce more than 70% of LCD monitors, 88% of netbooks, and more than 94% of all laptops worldwide. Taiwan’s superiority in hardware offers a perfect match for India’s intelligence in software. Thus a combination of the two provides for an excellent IT (India + Taiwan) lifestyle for Indians.

Source:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Taiwan-ICT-majors-eye-Indian-market/5268038699

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