Page 10 - bne_Tech_10_2018

Leaders
October 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Romania’s software and IT market to exceed €5bn in 2019
Romania’s software and IT services output will exceed €5.1bn and the number of companies in the sector will rise above 100,000 in 2019, accord- ing to a study by research company and consul- tancy Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) completed for the Employers' Association of Software and IT Services (ANIS).
The development will be mainly driven by exports, which are expected to reach €4bn billion in the year, €1bn more than in 2017, while the domestic market will grow insignificantly. Romania has an "underdeveloped, frozen internal market", a situa- tion that has a strong negative impact on the local ecosystem of the hi-tech firms that do not have a domestic market where they can test their prod- ucts before going to foreign markets, commented president of ANIS Teodor Blidarus at a press conference .
Out of the total exports of IT products and ser- vices, about 75% go to the European market, 22% to the US market, the rest being directed to other markets, according to ANIS and CAP data.
The top 10 companies account for about a quarter of the market value. Out of the top 300 of the largest IT software and services companies operating on the local market, 40% are Romanian companies.
"It's hard to talk about investing in a country where virtually everything is being designed for export,” the report added.
From the point of view of IT projects, the central and local public administration in Romania is un- able to generate strategies and plans, said Eugen Schwab-Chesaru, vice president for Central and Eastern Europe at CAP.
Russian lottery operator could move to online car leasing
Armen Sarkissian's Russian lottery monopolist S8 Capital is to launch an online car leasing service named Next.Car, Kommersant daily reported
on September 4 citing a representative of the company. The service's Beta version is currently being tested.
Upon the launch, S8 could operate about 2,000 cars. Plans might see it increase that figure to
40,000 within 3 years. Users could prolong either a one-year lease or a three-month rental or buy the vehicle. After the closing of a contract online, the car would reportedly be available within 24 hours.
According to Kommersant, one of the new venture partners of Sarkissian is the owner of the Avilon car dealership, Alexander Varshavskywhich.