The Technology sector in Catalonia. Baròmetre del Sector Tecnològic a Catalunya 2013

The Technology Sector in Catalonia 2013 is the fifth edition of this report. It provides comprehensive analysis of the country’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field. The nation’s ICT is well-consolidated and now has the potential to become one of Catalonia’s strategic sectors and growth drivers.

Some conclusions:

• While the crisis has affected the sector, the ICT field has fared much better than other industries.
• Internationalisation is a necessity, not an alternative. The firms that are internationalising, their markets have shrunk less and they are less dependent on public administration contracts. Furthermore, 43.6% of internationalising firms have seen a significant rise in their workforces whereas for non-international firms, this figure is 32.3%. The former have also experienced marked growth in both the number of their clients and turnover.
• The crisis has directly affected R&D but the outlook for 2013 appears to be brighter, especially for the internationalising firms, which envisage spending more on it this year. There is also a slight drop in the number of companies not carrying out R&D. Even so, universities have been particularly hard-hit by cuts in research. There seem to be more university-company technology transfers and collaboration, although there is still much to be done, especially with regards to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and micro-firms.
• The areas identified by the sector in 2013 as the technologies of the future were mobile computing, cloud computing and smart cities.
• Two major sectorial weaknesses are that many firms cater to the domestic market and that this has shrunk. Hurdles to internationalisation and the sectors lack of lobbying power are further weaknesses.
• Two major strengths are the Barcelona Brand and Catalan research capabilities. The competitiveness of firms, talents and staff are also plus points.
• Major threats are: lack of funding to drive the growth of new but well-established firms; the ‘brain drain’ caused by the crisis; a falling share in strategic sectors such as Health.
• With regard to opportunities, the sector stresses the hopes pinned on Mobile World Capital, and on the fact that Catalonia is a leader in areas such as Health, Smart Cities, Online Banking; Cultural Content.

Accés al document  Català, Castellà, English Report /Informe 2013
photo: (*) Photosolde
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