Information Policy

Qatar sees rise in e-government service delivery

By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter

The Ministry of Business and Trade (MBT) will be among the first in the country to become fully paperless in 2014 - a clear reflection of Qatar’s success in adapting e-government services.
Currently, MBT is working towards converting all its paper-based transactional services to be 100% automated by next year, ictQATAR said in its latest newsletter yesterday.  

China: Think tank launched to protect ICT competition, innovation

The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) established Sunday an institution dedicated to research on competition and development in the fast-developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

Spanish e-commerce revenue grows 11.7% in Q3

Online purchases in Spain grew by 11.7 percent during the third quarter of 2012, compared with the same period of 2011, reaching a total turnover of over EUR 2.70 billion. The number of online purchases in the third quarter reached 36.8 million, up by 11.7 percent year-on-year, according to a report from the Spanish telecommunications regulator CMT.

Continue reading "Spanish e-commerce revenue grows 11.7% in Q3" »

by Jan Cienski

Poland’s slowing economy is driving people to their keyboards – not to waste time playing games but to save money by buying over the internet.

Although only about 40 per cent of Poles shop online, the number is growing by about 30 per cent a year, which makes Poland, along with the Czech Republic, the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the EU, according to Ecommerce Europe, an industry lobby group. The continent as a whole saw e-commerce grow by 21 per cent last year to €310bn.

Poland still has a fairly low level of internet penetration, with only about 60 per cent of households having access.

“Online shopping is growing on popularity. In a survey conducted by PMR in April 2012 over 40% of respondents stated that they had shopped online over the last 6 months. Among people below 35 the proportion amounts to nearly 70%,” wrote PMR, a market research firm.

One of the reasons for the increase is that cash-strapped Poles are hunting for deals online, Wojciech Czernecki, head of the Nokaut Group, an online price searcher, told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

“During an economic slowdown, consumers are more willing to look for cheaper prices, that’s why the whole branch looks like it will grow strongly,” he said.

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/02/04/polands-austerity-driven-e-commerce-boom/

Poland's top telecoms group TPSA expects to sell its fully-owned web portal Wp.pl in the second half of 2013, the operator's Chief Executive Maciej Witucki said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday TPSA said it had launched the sale process of Wp.pl as part of the plan to curb the expected revenue fall, confirming an earlier Reuters report the operator was seeking an advisor for the spin-off.

Analysts value Poland's No.2 web portal at 500-600 million zlotys.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/tpsa-internet-idUSW8N0B400920130212

Poland’s austerity-driven e-commerce boom

by Jan Cienski

Poland’s slowing economy is driving people to their keyboards – not to waste time playing games but to save money by buying over the internet.

Although only about 40 per cent of Poles shop online, the number is growing by about 30 per cent a year, which makes Poland, along with the Czech Republic, the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the EU, according to Ecommerce Europe, an industry lobby group. The continent as a whole saw e-commerce grow by 21 per cent last year to €310bn.

Poland still has a fairly low level of internet penetration, with only about 60 per cent of households having access.

“Online shopping is growing on popularity. In a survey conducted by PMR in April 2012 over 40% of respondents stated that they had shopped online over the last 6 months. Among people below 35 the proportion amounts to nearly 70%,” wrote PMR, a market research firm.

One of the reasons for the increase is that cash-strapped Poles are hunting for deals online, Wojciech Czernecki, head of the Nokaut Group, an online price searcher, told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

“During an economic slowdown, consumers are more willing to look for cheaper prices, that’s why the whole branch looks like it will grow strongly,” he said.

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/02/04/polands-austerity-driven-e-commerce-boom/

Polish TPSA plans to sell its Internet arm in H2 2013

Poland's top telecoms group TPSA expects to sell its fully-owned web portal Wp.pl in the second half of 2013, the operator's Chief Executive Maciej Witucki said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday TPSA said it had launched the sale process of Wp.pl as part of the plan to curb the expected revenue fall, confirming an earlier Reuters report the operator was seeking an advisor for the spin-off.

Analysts value Poland's No.2 web portal at 500-600 million zlotys.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/tpsa-internet-idUSW8N0B400920130212