The Cape IT Initiative (CITI) is embarking on a strategy of encouraging Western Cape IT companies to look beyond the country`s borders and find foreign clients, especially in West Africa, the US and the UK.
Called "Thinking Global", the strategy was unveiled to the incubator`s members yesterday.
"SA has the skills and the creativity to compete internationally, what needs to change is our mindset," said Viola Manuel, CITI`s cluster development manager. "By thinking on a larger scale, and seeing the bigger picture, companies will be able to gear up their products and their services to compete on a level playing field with other countries."
A guest speaker at the event was Amazon.com`s Willem Van Biljon, who advised companies embarking on a foreign strategy to "think local".
"Microsoft, for example, has a localisation division that adapts its software to fit into the various countries where it operates. Companies wanting to export should bear this in mind," he said.
Part of CITI`s "Thinking Global" strategy will be to encourage local firms to take part in international IT exhibitions such as Germany`s CeBIT (to be held in March) and September`s Gitex (Gulf IT Expo).
"Another part of the strategy is to continue with facilitating visiting delegations such as the US National Minority Supplier Development Council," Manuel said.
CITI will also dovetail with Western Cape`s industrial development organisation, Wesgro`s, strategy of "Following West Africa", which encourages local firms to develop closer business ties with their counterparts in that part of the continent.
Finally, the strategy will also encourage the development of the Western Cape as a centre for open source software.
"However, most of our strategy is technology neutral and is part of developing business," Manuel said.
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