Unctad calls for focus on software development

“Software is everywhere. The software sector has huge opportunities, especially software for mobile devices and software in developing countries, as in developing countries they spend little on software,” Tiziana Bonapace, chief of the ICT and development section at Unctad, said yesterday.
“The Asia-Pacific region spends 16 per cent on computer software, while North America spends 46 per cent and Europe 34 per cent,” he said, while presenting Unctad’s “The Information Economy Report 2012 on the Software Industry and Developing Countries”.
The three key drivers of growth in the software industry are social media, online work and cloud computing, while the boom in smart phones and broadband Internet is the key growth factor for mobile software or applications.
“Broadband enables new forms of software development. The use of social media creates demand for new applications, and cloud computing creates the wide adoption of software as a service platform,” he |said.
Local demand for software is expanding, especially for mobile apps because of the greater use of mobile phones. The global mobile app industry in 2011 was worth US$15 million-$20 million and is estimated to grow to $38 billion by 2014.
“Software opportunities are across developing countries. Mobile app development should be adapted to local needs, |culture and languages,” he |said.
However, there are barriers to software growth. In Asia-Pacific, the top barrier is the lack of quality human resources.
Globally, the top five barriers are limited access to venture capital, lack of qualified human resources, lack of government procurement, limited capabilities in domestic software firms, and weak demand from the private sector.
“Venture capital is rising in Asia-Pacific but it is still concentrated in selected Asian economies,” he said.
The opportunities are out there, but support is needed from the government as a policy-maker.
The areas for policy intervention include the effort to make affordable ICT infrastructure, especially broadband access, the availability of a skilled workforce, the establishment |of public procurement, the |fostering of local software industry capabilities, and the strengthening of the legal framework.
“It is important that the government launches a policy to encourage the local development of software. Policy-makers can enable the environment |for developing software,” he said.