It’s somewhat funny, just a few weeks ago you could read in several news articles, how the tech sector wasn’t going to be affected by the global crisis. The NYtimes reported on the 28th September that Silicon Valley Barely Touched by Financial Crisis — So Far and Seeking Alpha reported on 13th October that Tech sector liquidity remains strong despite credit crisis.
A few weeks later news starts erupting about how it’s not all just roses for the tech sector. Vnunet.com reports how the Economic crisis grips global tech sector. Some examples showing us how even the tech sector ins’t immune from a global crisis are these: a 10 per cent drop in Oracle’s share price, SAP revising its earlier third-quarter projections and Sun Microsystems announces slowing performance in the US would be likely to affect its growth.
While reading such news articles, the question that keeps on popping up in my head is: What about the research and development investments? I mean it’s surely all fine for companies like Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, etc. to spend millions on investing in new products, but with such slowdowns (globally) it might not be so wise to spend that on R&D right now. Time will tell what happens with advances in technology…
Image by originalgoast under CreativeCommons
Related news articles:
The bright side is that the new president is the most tech-savvy president ever. Obama plans to invest in green jobs and renewable technology which will certainly boost the need for tech workers on the research, development, and innovation fronts. Along with stimulus aimed at infrastructure projects (roads, highways, water systems, etc.) digital infrastructure will also be funded and built. When running for office, Obama vowed to improve America’s competitiveness with many technological initiatives including investing in the sciences and making the R&D tax credit permanent. He has also promised to make math and science education a national priority. Part of that plan is to pinpoint college aid for math and science students. Something else that signals technology as top priority for the new administration — our nation will soon have its first Chief Technology Officer.
The bright side is that the new U.S. president is the most tech-savvy president ever. Obama plans to invest in green jobs and renewable technology which will certainly boost the need for tech workers on the research, development, and innovation fronts. Along with stimulus aimed at infrastructure projects (roads, highways, water systems, etc.) digital infrastructure will also be funded and built. When running for office, Obama vowed to improve America’s competitiveness with many technological initiatives including investing in the sciences and making the R&D tax credit permanent. He has also promised to make math and science education a national priority. Part of that plan is to pinpoint college aid for math and science students. Something else that signals technology as top priority for the new administration — the U.S. will soon have its first Chief Technology Officer.