Cyprus is perhaps not renowned for being particulary "high-tech" but last week the capital Nicosia played host to a conference entitled "Hi-Tech Cyprus: Meeting the Challenge of Globalisation", at which delegates were told 'Cyprus is no longer an island.'
At the conference laid on by the Cyprus American Business Association (CyABA) and the US Embassy, Daniel Russell, Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy said that technology is the bridge between countries and the quality of a nation's human resource is what counts today. He said: 'Cyprus is very rich in people. It does, however, need the right tools and the right partners.' He added that while Cyprus' destiny was linked to Europe, the US had a great deal to offer in the area of Information Technology and was ready to help contribute to Cyprus' growth.
The dominant theme at the conference was that Cyprus was no longer
isolated and that the IT revolution holds enormous potential for
the country. Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Nicos
Rolandis, said the IT revolution was the most productive revolution
in Cyprus' history. He added that a technical committee has been
appointed at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that brings
together the Planning Bureau, the University of Cyprus, the Institute
of Technology, and the Chamber of Commerce. He stated emphatically:
'We are on the threshold of introducing High Tech in Cyprus.'
One of the key initiatives in Cyprus is business incubators, developed to provide incentives and support to hi-tech start-ups. Rolandis said that out of every four companies entering the incubators, three would fail, but the benefits to the economy of the one successful company would be 'tremendous'. A grant of £100,000 would be made available to successful companies to incubate their idea and help them develop the product.
Vassilis Rologis, President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, urged individuals and companies to approach the
Chamber for support for their hi-tech business plans. He said:
'Cyprus can play an important part in the hi-tech sector primarily
because so many qualified students are coming back and because
strategically we are positioned so we can export these IT services
and products.' He said Cyprus could be a base for many hi-tech
companies from Asia and be a channel for their products.
Kyriacos Kokkinos, Cyprus Operations Manager for International
Business Machines (IBM), said that Cyprus could be turned on to
e-commerece, but until now lacked vision. However, the situation
is changing now that Cyprus is moving in the European direction
and because of globalisation. Mr Kokkinos said: 'Cyprus has the
people and the knowledge and the technological infrastructure.
What it doesn't have is the vision -- It's not enough today to
have e-mail.'
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