Can Cyprus export technology made in Cyprus?

By Antonis Neokleous, co-founder of Gain Venture Studios

Everyone today recognizes the role and importance of technology in modernizing the Cypriot state and improving the services provided to citizens.

That is why we constantly see announcements and awarding of tenders in this direction.

Recently, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth signed an agreement to create an integrated School Management System that will improve and speed up learning and administrative processes.

In September an agreement was signed for the creation of the so-called e-Law in the Legal Service.

These are actions in the right direction in terms of upgrading the various public services but could such projects for example be a part of the state's strategy to produce Cypriot IP, to favor more the domestic technology ecosystem whose development is theoretically one of the state's goals? The answer is: yes it could if the offers for such projects did not exclude Cypriot companies.

99% of public tenders (especially in IT matters) require the interested party to have similar experience or to have implemented a similar project for another organization. Time and time again, for this type of project, Cypriot IT companies turn to "partners" from abroad who have implemented a similar project in another country.

In short, intentionally or unintentionally, the Republic of Cyprus sends the message that it does not trust Cypriot companies to implement such contracts. Even if he proclaims that in Cyprus there is a highly qualified human resource and that the goal is for our country to become an international technology hub. We are not saying that the legislation of public contracts should not be followed, quite the opposite. But to determine such qualitative and quantitative criteria so that on the one hand the quality of the project is guaranteed and on the other hand Cypriot companies can develop their own solutions.

 With such practices, the domestic technology ecosystem will hardly develop and compete with international companies in the sector. So, how will the Cypriot intellectual property regime be established so that it not only develops domestically but be able to export services and licenses internationally? Why give tax incentives to foreign companies to transfer their IP to Cyprus and not to Cypriot companies to develop their own? Even from an economic point of view, about 80% of the money from these contracts eventually ends up abroad, so the enduringly highly negative trade balance is further aggravated.

We ask the simple question: Couldn't Cypriot companies, which have been proven to have the know-how and infrastructure, to implement such projects within the framework of public contracts? Thus, not only is the domestic economy supported, but also a sector with huge prospects is strengthened, while the foundations are created for additional future revenues from the commercial exploitation of the software that will be developed internally.

So imagine, if for all the IT projects of the public sector, Cypriot companies had developed Cypriot software. Certainly the public and wider public sector would not operate 90% with technology solutions from abroad and we would certainly have export-oriented companies selling licenses and services for solutions such as School Management System, Port Management, etc. So if the Cypriot state itself does not give Cypriot businesses the opportunity to compete and grow, then how can we expect them to be trusted in other countries?

As we are in a period of preparing the pre-election programs of the presidential candidates, we would encourage them to consider the specific issues and reflect on the future of the country by looking at the bigger picture and its long-term development.

Cyprus can become a technology hub not only through the attraction and establishment of foreign companies but much more through the development of domestic companies in the sector.