INFORMATION ECONOMY REPORT 2012 The Software Industry and Developing Countries

Transcription

1 INFORMATION ECONOMY REPORT 2012 The Software Industry and Developing Countries EMBARGO Must not be quoted or summarized in the print, broadcast or electronic media before 28 November :00 GMT. Torbjörn Fredriksson Chief, ICT Analysis Section, UNCTAD-DTL Marlborough House London, UK 28 November 2012

2 Software is Everywhere The growing emphasis on ICTs in the delivery of government, healthcare, education and other goods and services demands customized applications. Countries therefore need the capacity to adopt, adapt and develop relevant software. BAN Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General

3 Software Sector Opportunities Low capital barriers to entry Generator of employment not least for the skilled youth o Some 10 million people work in computer software and services Source of innovation o Software top recipient of venture capital in the US Source of export revenue o Top exporters from the South: India, China, Philippines, Singapore Key to sustain productive ICT use in society o Software increasingly important for the functionality of both goods and services

4 Developing Countries Spend Little on Software Source: WITSA/IHS Global Insight Inc.

5 Market Orientation Differs

6 The Mobile Revolution o Least developed countries (LDCs): from 9 to 41 subscriptions per 100 people between 2006 and 2011 o Only five economies have penetration below 10: Eritrea Marshall Islands Myanmar North Korea Somalia Source: ITU

7 Local Demand for Software is Expanding Mobile applications More use of mobile phones more demand for mobile apps 2011: first time more smartphones than PCs were shipped Global mobile app industry expected to be worth $38 billion by 2014 Mobile apps development adapted to local needs, cultures and languages also rising in developing countries Diverse content: from news and entertainment to patient care and government services apps Source: Various market estimates, AT Kearney, World Bank.

8 Mobile Apps: The Case of Sri Lanka Most popular locally developed apps in the Android App Market in Sri Lanka, March 2012 Rank Name of app 1 SETT Sinhala/Tamil web browser SETT Hindi web browser Description The only Sinhala/Tamil-enabled web browser for Android 2 Renders Hindi Unicode within the app 3 Tamil SMS Allows users to send SMS in Tamil Sinhala Tamil-English 4 dictionary First such dictionary on Android Market Sinhala Dictionary Sinhala-English-Sinhala dictionary for 5 offline Android 2.1 and above Free radio with more than 10 live Sri Lanka Radio Live 6 stations Helakuru Sinhala First phonetic Sinhala keyboard for 7 Keyboard mobiles Sri Lanka Train Train schedules, traffic information, 8 Schedule prices 9 Bhasha Puvath Trilingual news reader 10 Lankadeepa Breaking news on Android mobiles The developer of the No 1 app, Mr Dhanika Perera, is a 25 year old university student from a rural village in southern Sri Lanka. Since January 2011, he has developed another six apps for the Android market.

9 Growing Demand for Software Social media, online work and cloud computing Broadband enables new forms of software development Use of social media creates demand for new applications o End 2011: 481 million Facebook users; ~75% outside of North America o Mobile version widely used in developing countries Online software freelancing rising fast o Elance: programmers from 150 (!) countries involved o Bangladesh: some 10,000 freelance programmers Cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) o Brazil and China among fastest adopters of cloud computing o Trend is also visible in Africa and other parts of the world Source: UNCTAD, Facebook, Elance.com, Capgemini, Forrester, media reports.

10 Free and Open Source Software Gaining Market Shares in Many Segments Top five Internet browsers, share of all users, Growth areas Firefox Internet Explorer Chrome Servers (Linux) Mobile operating systems (Android) Internet name system (BIND) Web servers (Apache) Web browsers (Firefox, Chrome) Big data (Linux) Mobile apps Source: UNCTAD, Center for Strategic and International Studies, NetCraft, StatCounter.

11 FOSS Offers Several Advantages to Users Promotion of local learning Lower costs and more local value creation Less dependence on proprietary software National security considerations Opportunities for local business development Policies are becoming more friendly to FOSS o Europe leading the way o Among developing regions, Asia is the front-runner Source: UNCTAD, Center for Strategic and International Studies, NetCraft, StatCounter.

12 Software Strategies Spreading Software strategies put in place in many countries, e.g., o Bangladesh, China, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa and Sri Lanka Should be integrated in broader ICT development plans Need to be adapted to each situation Should involve dialogue with private sector, university and developer community

13 A National Software System

14 Barriers to Software Growth According to national IT/software associations Share (%) of respondents mentioning factor Source: UNCTAD and WITSA

15 Areas for Policy Intervention Affordable ICT infrastructure especially broadband Availability of skilled workforce Public procurement as strategic tool to create local demand Foster local software industry capabilities o Business environment o Encourage relevant quality certification o Access to finance Strengthening legal framework o IPRs, e-payment, e-transactions

16 A Role for International Partners Capacity-building Training Application development Strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks Create demand by using software expertise in developing countries when developing software applications for their development projects

17 Conclusion Importance of software capabilities rising Greater opportunities for engaging in software projects and seizing them requires active involvement by Governments and their partners Strategies should seek to balance exports and domestic sales and leverage partnerships with other stakeholders Goal: to move from passive adopters of foreign technology to developers of relevant local applications Marc Companies in every industry need to assume that a software revolution is coming. Andreessen, Wall Street Journal, 20 August 2011

18 INFORMATION ECONOMY REPORT 2012 can be downloaded free of charge at