Friel, who is also a director of Merrion Corporate Finance, criticised the government for not giving Irish software companies the opportunity to develop some of its IT projects, often opting for US multinationals such as Accenture, EDS and IBM.
The ISA is looking to bring in a quota of up to 10 percent for the involvement of indigenous companies in public sector ICT projects. There is no quota at present. The association, which intends to lobby the government on the issue, points to the US, where it said there is a quota of 23 percent for the involvement of indigenous SMEs in government ICT projects. In April, ICT Ireland recommended that the quota in Ireland should be 20 percent.
The association did acknowledge, however, that as Ireland is part of the European Union, selection of companies for public sector IT projects has to be on an equal opportunity basis with other European players.
Also at the briefing the association said it wants to see some of the benefits of Science Foundation Ireland's EUR670 million in funding for research and development. The software body is effectively seeking more integration between colleges and industry, and the much-publicised need for a sure supply of tech graduates was again reinforced.
"The long term pipeline in generating skills is very important," said Tom Rourke, a member of the ISA executive council and country manager of CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation). He described the big shift from computer courses to business courses as "a recipe for emigration" and short-sighted. He added that these graduates, or "business generalists," would not be creators of wealth but managers of it, and if there isn't a sufficient resource of people from sectors such as engineering, science and technology, they will have nothing to manage.
Friel said that while the US is now a cheaper location to build software than Ireland, this country can continue to be attractive as a business location, and he cited the recent expansion of Google, Overture and eBay to Ireland. He said there would be a demand for 14,000 ICT graduates in 2005, a point echoed by ISA Director Kathryn Raleigh.
"We believe there will be an upturn and we will need those graduates," Raleigh said. The association is involved in the ICT Ireland Graduate Placement Programme, launched in June with the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI).
Quelle: electricnews.net
