'CeBIT Germany' window on options that many

Bangladesh participated in the fair for the fourth time. Eight Bangladeshi companies, under the tutelage of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), displayed their software and gave an idea of where Bangladesh's ICT sector stands at the moment.

Digital technology, an important area of information technology, is making a major impact on everyday lives. Wireless product information displays on shopping trolleys; mobile phones, which transmit a patient's heart data in real time to his cardiac specialist; smart phones with a complete array of multimedia functions; travel information and bookings via the Internet the list seems never-ending.

CeBIT Hannover 2004 (March 1824) gave the glimpse of how ground-breaking IT-enabled technologies will change the way we live, forever. The slogan-- Tomorrow we'll buy differently, sell differently, live differently and work differently couldn't be more right-sounding.

Over a sprawling 334,168 square metre- area, as many as 6,411 exhibitors from 64 countries presented a complete spectrum of products and systems.

This time CeBIT focus fell on the distributive trades and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The new SME Forum in CeBIT 2004 is a magnet for small and medium-sized enterprises with a goal to foster contacts with exhibitors whose products and services are targeted specifically at SMEs.

CeBIT 2004 has showcased state-of-the-art products and services for e-business, e-governance, e-banking and data security. In addition, the extensive programme of lectures, symposia, group presentations and special displays at CeBIT 2004 gave a unique insight into what's available on the world market and into the groundbreaking technologies that are just around the corner.

IT Market in Germany and Europe
Highest percentage of technology-orientated investment has been done in the most western European countries and is the gateway to the growing markets of the economic region South-Asia, especially to Bangladesh.

Expansion of EU also promises new opportunities for software vendors in the not-so-distant future. There are some spots of visible demand in certain areas of the global market like integration software and security related technologies

The Bangladeshi companies that participated at CeBIT and presented a wide variety of enterprise software products are Anupam Infotek Ltd., BdCom Online Ltd., Leadsoft Bangladesh Ltd., Southtech Limited, TechnoHaven and SIPPO. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (Basis) was also there at CeBIT Germany.

The Ministry of Commerce has a plan to open an ICT business centre in Germany to promote Bangladesh software exports to Europe. This would be the second ICT business centre after the Silicon Valley Centre, which opened last year at Santa Clara.

An ICT business centre in Germany will provide information and guidance to Bangladeshi companies and offer a shared office and amenities such as meeting room and broadband access in Germany in order to provide a physical presence in major German and European market.

Economic and commercial relations between Bangladesh and Germany have widely expanded especially since the 90s. Yet a large unexplored scope exists in the area of software development and IT for further expansion and strengthening.

The author is a freelance journalist.