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Some people have not yet realised that as Cyprus (still) aspires to become a services centre and business hub, it needs to provide seamless products that will build and support the infrastructure on which the services industry is so reliant.
One of these crucial support services is technology-related and the speed with which local firms can maintain and enhance the communications, e-Commerce and marketing skills of Cyprus-based companies, be they in the financial services, tourism, trade or shipping sectors in order to be competitive in the real world.
It is incomprehensible that with so many big names already present on the island, either through direct representation or through a network of agents and associates, simple solutions are still hard to come by.
It is no good whining about the delay in public service and the snail’s pace with which civil servants go about their duties, when there is no national strategy on e-Commerce or e-Business, similar to other developed or developing economies and rival jurisdictions.
Some towns or cities with the population of the whole of Cyprus have ten times faster connectivity, often supported with free Wi-Fi access for the public to be able to embrace the knowledge society that everyone is talking about. What’s the use of having high-speed cable connections out of Cyprus, when the local network is slower than a panda bear rushing for an ice cream cone.
No one has yet thought of coming up with a strategy that would turn Cyprus into a true technology hub with the fastest and cheapest land and satellite-based connectivity in the region, making this one more feather in our cap, that to date only has “lower taxes” to be proud of.
But in order to support this technological advance, local service companies must also move up to a new level play, offering solutions from the smallest husband-and-wife workshop to the multinational giants and shipping conglomerates that carry the Cyprus flag wherever they go.
To paraphrase a 20th century philosopher, “machines do not make mistakes, human who operate them do” which translates into the simplest conclusion that there are solutions for any problem, no matter how big or small.
If the local technical community cannot handle the pettiest to the most complex problem solving, then it is time that the companies on the island look to the unemployed technicians in the rest of the EU-27 to attract them to our shores, or even for the government to relax its rigid regulations for savvy techies from Asia.
Perhaps it’s time for a general reboot…
