ASIMELEC predicts a 'critical' 2010 in ICT if the cut in public investment persists

The Employers' Association demands a real commitment to Information and Communications Technologies based on the economic value they contribute to the economy in order to rebound a year that has closed with a fall in the ICT sector of 8%. ASIMELEC considers that the “smart” mobile telephony market, the development of 3D and, in general, the entire digital content industry and services associated with DTT such as interactivity or high definition,… will boost the sector this year.

ASIMELEC, an employer's association that brings together information technology, communications and electronics companies, has been convinced that the crisis has reached the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) macro-sector. It has done so later than in the rest of the economic areas, but no less virulently.

According to still preliminary data, the ICT industry closes 2009 with a global drop of 8%, which in some subsectors reaches 20%, at the hands of budget cuts by public administrations and the decreasing investment of companies in these technologies, factors to which is added low private consumption.

The attitude that ASIMELEC maintained a year ago, with a sector that continued to rise despite the general economic crisis, has transformed into deep concern. And the year that has just begun presents a critical aspect if, as the employers denounce, the lack of a clear public commitment persists. In fact, in its most optimistic forecasts, as long as business demand does not fall further, ASIMELEC calculates a business loss of 2.5% for the ICT sector for this year in Spain. Meanwhile, the forecasts of international experts for this sector in the EMEA area predict an increase of 4.5% in 2010.

Decided public bet

"It is necessary for Spain to bet on information and communications technologies and promote the development of the Digital Society because they are key elements to improve productivity, innovation and quality of life. They are the basis for the development of a new sustainable economic model," stated Martín Pérez, president of ASIMELEC. In his opinion, “without a strong ICT Sector it is difficult for us to move towards changing the economic model.”

The Employers' Association does not understand the government's ups and downs in a sector such as ICT, which the Administration itself has described as an engine for changing the economic model, and is saddened by the loss of funds that the main public commitment in this regard is registering this year: the Avanza Plan.

"It is necessary for administrations to undertake urgent actions so that our economy benefits from the advantages of ICT. These technologies contribute to reducing the use of carbon and promoting sustainability, to facilitating better performance of public services, to increasing the competitiveness of our productive fabric, to helping our companies to compete in the markets, to creating employment and preparing workers to deploy their knowledge in the new digital economy, the economy of the 21st century," said the president of the employers' association.

The global drop of 8% with which the ICT sector will presumably close in 2009 has been most seriously influenced by the subsectors of the audiovisual industry and consumer electronics and to a lesser extent by the Internet, software and telecommunications. The consumer market, according to preliminary figures from ASIMELEC, has continued to increase in 2009 the slowdown that began in the second half of 2008. Thus, last year's figures with respect to 2008 show a clear negative trend.

The Employers' Association predicts that both the electronic telecommunications device market and the ICT hardware and products segment and the consumer electronics and mobile phone equipment subsectors will maintain a downward trend this year, although more moderate than in 2009.

Agenda for 2010

Against the background of the total analog shutdown and just a month away from it, ASIMELEC will celebrate from March 9 to 10 in Seville the fifth edition of its International Congress of Digital Terrestrial Television, Pro-TDT, which brings together each year the main private and Administration players in this market and in which all the topics of interest that affect the sector are debated.

Likewise, ASIMELEC plans to hold its tenth Telecommunications Congress on May 5 in Madrid, in addition to the next editions of the Electronic Invoice and Certified Digitalization Congress and the Electronic DNI and Digital Identity Congress. In June, the employers' association will present the ICT Sector Report in 2009. And facing the summer, it will hold the second edition of its Seminar enrolled in the UPM Summer Courses, “Convergence in ICT”, which will be held in La Granja de San Ildefonso at the end of July.

ASIMELEC believes that, during 2010, other markets in constant evolution will activate the growth of the ICT sector. Thus, they expect growth in the “smart” mobile telephony market thanks to smartphones and touch operating systems, the development of 3D and, in general, the entire digital content industry that will boost the Internet of the future, supported by new markets such as the Digital Home that will allow providing a new and greater offer to the currently depressed housing sector.

Other milestones such as the increasingly closer analog switch-off and with it, the development of services associated with DTT such as interactivity, high definition,... will also boost the sector this year. For all this, the deployment of new generation telecommunications networks will be necessary, the implementation of which will allow these markets to become more dynamic.

ASIMELEC also foresees growth in the software market, especially for business control and management and with Business Intelligence functions, at a time when more than ever all organizations must bet on sustainability, control and efficiency, needs that will also contribute to the take-off and development of Green ICT. ASIMELEC believes that the Environment within the ICT industry can be one of the sectors to take into account in the economic recovery process, providing our economy with a productive, and not speculative, structural model as an engine of development and growth.

According to José Pérez, “we are facing a new subsector that can be a generator of wealth with the creation of new business models, such as recycling plants, thereby energizing traditional sectors, which acquires special relevance taking into account the current economic situation.”