Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is a term used to describe the combination of computer and telecommunications.  There are a lot of devices used for ICT and numerous ways it can be useful.  It is a necessary and essential tool for national and international development and is crucial for socio-economic and technological growth.

According to a report by the World Economic Forum (in cooperation with INSEAD):

 “Focusing on the transformational opportunities posed by the global economic turmoil, leaders from industry, government and civil society attending the 2009 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland agreed that information and communications technologies (ICT) can play a vital role in the pathway to an economic recovery…leading academics, global organizations and industry analysts agree that there is a direct correlation between the use of ICT and positive macroeconomic growth.”

For further information, see the full report titled ICT for Economic Growth:  A Dynamic Ecosystem Driving The Global Recovery at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/ict/ICT%20for%20Growth.pdf.

The World Economic Forum, along with INSEAD, also produces an annual report on Networked Readiness.  The following information can be found at http://www.insead.edu/v1/gitr/wef/main/about.cfm.

(According to the INSEAD website)  Since it was first launched in 2001, the Global Information Technology Report has become a valuable and unique benchmarking tool to determine national ICT strengths and weaknesses, and to evaluate progress. It also highlights the continuing importance of ICT application and development for economic growth.

The Report uses the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), covering a total of 134 economies in 2008-2009, to measure the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments.
The NRI is composed of three component indexes which assess:

·         the environment for ICT offered by a given country or community

·         the readiness of the economy’s key stakeholders – individuals, business and governments

·         and the usage of ICT among these stakeholders

According to the report, Denmark, Sweden and the United States hold the top three ranks in Networked Readiness.  The full report can be found at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gitr/2009/Rankings.pdf. 

In a Press Release published February, 26^th 2009, the US Census Bureau reported, “U.S. businesses spent $264.2 billion on information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and computer software in 2007, a 4.4 percent increase over 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”  (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/economic_surveys/013382.html)

An interesting side note…India, where the US outsources much of our IT these days, is ranked at number 54 in Networked Readiness.  I encourage everyone to learn more about how technological innovations in ICT are changing the world.  Another excellent source for information can be found at http://www.ictliteracy.info/.

Targeted technology investments are essential to increasing operating scale, making processes more efficient and automating manual processes.  Ignoring this fact can be counterproductive.  Downturns give companies an opportunity to increase their IT investments, producing efficiencies and revenue growth that will be greater than those received from the usual cost reductions.  Take advantage of this time to have your business and IT staff review your systems and processes for insights that could add value.  By evaluating data, your IT staffers can identify spots of revenue leakage or unproductive expenditure.

Across industries, technology can bring potential opportunities for short-term gains in the areas of

·         Sales and Pricing- development, marketing and sales

·         Sourcing and Production- manufacturing, fulfillment and billing

·         Support processes- contact center and field services

·         Back-office- finance and human resources

·         Overhead and Performance Management- risk, legal, facilities, information technology

Examples of areas for further optimization include

·         Further automation

·         System enhancements

·         Enhanced information tracking

·         Consolidation of information/Integration of information flows

·         Information analysis to discover unnecessary expenditures and losses

·         End-to-end view of sales processes and histories for strategy modeling

These are just a few examples of how you can ‘think outside the box’ and return your company to utilizing technology as it was meant to be — to increase knowledge, production and revenues.  Next time your company comes looking to slash IT investments, create a plan to show how you can reduce costs, without reducing your staff.  Not only can you improve profitability, but when business picks up, you will be ready to get ahead in the better economy.