This year the amount of cellular phones with global positioning systems (GPS) will increase considerably, and not just in the number of subscribers. The variety of services will experience a similar growth. In fact, going beyond the already familiar services for locating places or establishments, mobile telephones equipped with GPS allow users to know the whereabouts of the friends in their online social networking contact lists. This functionality opens up a new window of possibilities for location-based services (LBS) in the realm of social networks.

It is to be expected that the inclusion of GPS in cell phones will finally popularize applications based on location technology. Mobile telephone manufacturers also hope that such new applications will slow the fall of prices that is inherent to electronic consumer products

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Title: European Information Technology Observatory 2007
Source: European Information Technology Observatory (EITO)
Date: March 8, 2007
Abstract: The European IT and telecommunications market will grow by 2.9 % in 2007 to reach €668 billion. The report estimates that the software and IT services market (particularly outsourcing, systems integration and consulting) will be the pillars of this growth and will make up for the slowdown of the telecom segment, which will see a mere 1.5% growth.
Analysts at the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) recommend that the EU focus on making the best use of its strategic resources (such as infrastructures and advanced communication services) and overcoming its weaknesses. These include scarce R&D investment in the information technology sector as well as market fragmentation.

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Title: Indicador de la Sociedad de la Información (Information Society Indicator). 2007 Edition. Fourth Quarter of 2006.
Source: Centro para la Empresa en Latinoamérica (CELA) and Everis
Date: February 2007
Abstract: Chile held onto the top spot in the information society indicator (ISI), according to an index compiled jointly by IESE’s Centro para la Empresa en Latinoamérica and the consulting firm Everis. The index measures the level of development and usage of ICT in Latin America.
While Chile, which earned an ISI of 5.63 puntos, sits atop the list of the five countries studied (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia), Brazil is the on with the lowest score, tallying just 3.84 out of ten; followed by Colombia, with 3.85. According to the same study, Chile is the country with the greatest investment in information technologies as well as the highest number of computers, servers and Internet users per capita. Among the five countries, Argentina is the one with the highest level of mobile telephone market penetration, with 773 units per every 1,000 inhabitants.

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The search engine company wants to know and examine all of the movements made by Google users. If it is able to fully monitor their behavior, the company could will be able to offer more personalized ads that match their profiles. The idea, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is for the search engine to know the Net user in such a way that it can even respond to user-generated questions like, “What will I do with my free time?” or “What job offer should I choose?” This eagerness to build a giant database is alarming to consumer associations and users alike, who feel that it will constitute an invasion of privacy for Web users. One of the services to raise suspicions of late is iGoogle. It is a personalized homepage offered by the search engine that gives users access to their search history, Gmail accounts and calendars. The suspicions have increased when it was found out that the search engine king had invested in 23andMe, a company working on online genetic research.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has urged Google to reduce the amount of time searches are kept, which is currently between 18-24 months, as well as asking for clarification on how they are saved. 

Articles in Finacial Times, The Independent and TimesOnline

The lowering of rates that affected mobile Internet a few weeks back is now moving into the terrain of mobile telephony. Spain’s leading operator, Movistar, has decided to apply a discount around 10% in its voice rates. The aim of the move is to increase the loyalty of its more than 22 million customers in order to avoid an exodus toward other operators. Telefónica is apparently looking to replicate the simplicity of the rates of such operators as Yoigo, which just six months into the market has already amassed 175,000 customers, thanks to its low-cost offering.
Similarly, Telefónica has reduced its number of ten to four new rates for the list of prices it offers to the residential market. Vodafone, for the time being, has announced that it will not follow in Telefónica’s footsteps and will keep its current rates unchanged. Orange, on the other hand, will be looking into the Telefónica strategy and make a decision later based on its findings. 
 
News in Expansión, ABC and Libertad Digital

The  e-business Center PwC&IESE is participating in the Business Information Technologies project (BIT), led by the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. The study analyzes the impact ICT has on business practices in more than 20 countries and our center is carrying out its Spain segment. If you would like to participate in our survey, please click here.

More information (In Spanish) 

By Cristina Puig, e-business Center PwC&IESE content assistant
Companies try to optimize IT value by aligning it with their corporate strategies. But is this the best approach? Peter Weill, director of the MIT Center for Information Systems Research, feels that if companies focus on enterprise architecture, they can get more value out of technology, drive innovation and boost company growth.

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