6 years August 22, 2017
Why ICT Development in Cyprus is Key to the Islands Continued Success
It has only been recognised in the past decade how imperative the role of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) plays in enabling a sustainable, astute, and comprehensive economy and society.
The use of ICT in all vital sectors of the Cyprus economy, such as healthcare, education, business tourism, transport and generally in the exercise and maintenance of companies is of utmost importance to the development of the island in order to attract foreign investments and continue to grow into a fully functioning international service centre. Due to its continual developmental nature, keeping atop of the latest ICT developments is a catalyst to increasing productivity and economic growth in Cyprus.
It will have a direct impact on the gradual increase on the country’s GDP, the creation of new high-value jobs, the modernisation and productivity increase within the public sector, the proliferation of transparency as well as the promotion of culture and democracy.
For this reason, the Department of Electronic Communications (DEC) with the guidance of the Advisory Committee has developed an inclusive plan for the development of the information society in Cyprus for the period 2017-2020. This includes the application of new ICT innovations entitled “Digital Strategy for Cyprus”, that was approved by the Cypriot Council of Ministers last year. The digital strategy for Cyprus is aligned with the actions and objectives as proposed in the Digital Agenda for Europe, one of the leading incentives of the Europe 2020 strategy, and will contribute substantially to economic growth, the creation of jobs and general productivity increase on the island.
The incentive promotes using ICT in all sectors of society and the general economy. The reported overall vision of the Digital Strategy for Cyprus is: “information & communication technologies to support the competitiveness and development of the economy, and the resident participation in the cultural, political and social domains”.
The Digital Strategy for Cyprus will support Cyprus to overcome the European recession and will promote economic growth, including increasing the competiveness of the private sector and the modernisation of the public sector.
The following objectives, measures and actions are included to be advanced over the coming years in Cyprus:
Measure 1 – Advancement of a stable regulatory framework.
Measure 2 – Licensing of wireless networks.
Measure 3 – Promote competition & decrease broadband prices.
Measure 4 – Establish Fiber Optic networks to become available to the general public.
Measure 5 – Develop network & information security.