The attitude of Irish investors towards the information technology (IT) sector has changed radically over the past year, according to Mr David Lowe, head of research at Goodbody Stockbrokers. It is now seen as one of the primary drivers of the current economic boom and investor interest in the sector is on the increase.
Speaking at the launch of the Price Waterhouse Technology Forecast for 1998, Mr Lowe said:
"There is an evolving model for the successful Irish IT company coming to the stock market. Typically it is international in its orientation, and a dual listing on Nasdaq and the Irish Stock Exchange will encourage the participation of the greatest number of investors."
Price Waterhouse identified in its report a need within the Irish IT sector to receive further investment for continued growth, and to develop scale if the current pace of economic growth could be expected to continue.
According to Mr Tadgh O'Donoghue, partner in charge of the Price Waterhouse Technology Industry Group: "Ireland is uniquely placed to be the European leader in technology into the new millennium. The recent inward wave of US technology companies is now being followed by a mushrooming of young indigenous companies."
The forecast predicts the greatest advances in the IT sector will be made in the areas of electronic commerce, networking and telecommunications. In particular the take-up of "smart cards" is expected to increase.
Satellite and wireless technologies will continue to advance, especially in the mobile phone market, while aggressive pricing will drive down charges to the customers.
The computing power of microprocessors will multiply four-fold to six-fold over 1997 capabilities by 2000. Electronic communities found on the Internet, intranet and extranets are set to grow, while the trend towards partnerships between telecommunications service providers and networking corporations will continue, the report says.
Attending the launch, Dr George Young, chief executive of Commergy, said the current levels of growth in IT now needed to feature a vibrant, well-funded indigenous sector in order to sustain the successes of the multinational sector.
