CeBIT Spanish-style

When Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called on European leaders to create a single digital market at the opening ceremony of CeBIT in Hanover, he was able to draw on some rather impressive figures to prove he is serious about information technology.

With 49 connections per 100 citizens, Spain currently leads Europe in broadband penetration of both fixed and mobile lines. More than 99 percent of its schools are equipped with computers and internet connections, and its digital prescriptions and medical records have made it a pioneer in the field of online healthcare.

Great strides

"Our use of information and communications technologies may have started out at a low level," Marta Cimas Hernando from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade told Deutsche Welle.

"But Spain has made great progress in electronic administration. 21 percent of the population regularly use the internet to communicate with authorities," she added.

Spain is also the world's leading user of electronic identification applications, with more than 14 million electronic passports and other government-issued documents in circulation. Roughly 49 percent of Spanish businesses use electronic signatures in their commercial correspondence - that's almost double the European average.

Latin American ties

While Germany's IT industry body Bitkom is no doubt impressed by these credentials, its choice of Spain as this year's official partner at CeBIT was also motivated by a desire to access markets in Latin America.

Jaime Jimenez from Softonic, a Barcelona-based company exhibiting at CeBIT, said few firms can ignore the fact that Spanish is the second largest language on the Internet.

"Latin America's on everyone's radar," Jimenez told Deutsche Welle.

"The fact is that the development is not being as fast as maybe everyone expected. But on the other hand it's like the Chinese market - it's a place you have to be."

"You have to have your position set and stable as soon as possible otherwise you will lose your chance," Jimenez said, adding that he was confident that investments in the region would pay off sooner or later.

Two-way street

But not all Spanish companies at CeBIT are using the fair as an opportunity to access or help other firms get into the Latin American market. Some, like software consultancy Soluntia Solutions, are focused on strengthening business ties with the rest of Europe.

Soluntia project manager Miguel Angel Sillero said that despite recent falls in attendance, CeBIT remains the best opportunity for such networking.

"It's been a good day today," he said. "There have been a lot of people and press."

Corinne Saintilan is attending CeBIT for AL-Invest - a major EU-funded economic development initiative in Latin America.

"Here at CeBIT we're hosting an event called Future Match. The idea is to facilitate face-to-face meetings between European and Latin American visitors," she said.

"A lot of small-to-medium-sized enterprises from Latin America are eager to develop contacts in Spain."

And this year they have a good chance of achieving that goal. The choice of Spain as the official partner nation has certainly fuelled companies' interest in Spanish-speaking markets. And AL-Invest grants have helped roughly 60 Latin American firms visit this year's CeBIT - that's more than three times the number in 2009.

Author: Sam Edmonds, Hanover (ng)
Editor: Michael Lawton