Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 chose the best web projects
eDesign became an “Author of the Year” with the most nominations and awards in different categories

The winners in the categories of the competition were announced during the Official Award-Giving Ceremony, which took place on 24 June 2010 in Grand Hotel Bulgaria. All the evaluations of the Jury are public and they are published on the Competition’s web site webawards.bg.

Among the 52 winners in the Competition was a BASSCOM member company - Melon which won four first prizes in the following categories - "Production Industries", "Science and Education", "Leisure time“ and "Functional design".

The winners were awarded with luxury diplomas by Bulgarian Web Association, the organizer of the Competition, and with many special awards by the sponsors and partners.

A special award was given by Easy Online for „Online marketing professionalism“. It was awarded to the media agency Media Direction and the company Beiersdorf Bulgaria for the brands NIVEA, NIVEA for MEN and Eucerin.
Microsoft Bulgaria gave a key for the Program Microsoft WebsiteSpark to all nominated in the Professional Web Awards, which correspond to the conditions of the program – Webcafe.bg, Identity, Rizn, User Media, Knoway, Firefly-Studios, Web Services, Interactive Share, AIP Solutions. The company awarded as well all winners in the categories of the Professional Web Awards with keyboard and book.
Adobe Systems awards eDesign – the Author of the Year with Adobe Creative Suite.
Information Services surprises the winners in the categories „Society and politics“ – Media Web Awards – Capital Newspaper, „Finances and insurance“ - Bulgarian-American Credit Bank and „Science and education“ – American University in Bulgaria, Branches Web Awards, with universal electronic signatures.
A reporting photo by Getty Images, the winner in the International photo competition World Press Photo received the winner in the category „News“, Media Web Awards – Bulgarian National Radio. The company gave as well a one-month subscription to creative photography by Micro-stock site of Getty Images - Thinkstock to the winner in the category „Graphic content“, Professional Web Awards – Advertizing Agency KRES.
“Stenata” shops gave a rucksack Deuter Giga Office Pro to the winner in the category „Esthetic design“q Professional Web Awards – eDesign for the site Oldschool and rucksack Deuter Giga Flat to the winner in the category „Sport and health“, Media Web Awards – Health portal Puls.bg.

Subscription to the .net Magazine received the winners in the categories „Portfolio” and „Home page“, Professional Web Awards – Despark and Bulgarian National radio. Bulgarian National Radio was awarded with the same prize for its win in the category „Science, education and technologies“, Media Web Awards.

Golden sponsor is SuperHosting.BG, Silver sponsor is Microsoft Bulgaria, Bronze sponsor is Information Services PLC and Party Sponsor is Еasyads.bg.
Sponsors with material awards are: Adobe Systems, Guliver Photos and „Stenata” Shops.
Main media partners are: Media partners are: Nova TV, Darik Web, Economedia.

The Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is organized with the support of:
BASSCOM, ICT Cluster, ASTEL, BAIT, BAA, BALII, AIESEC, Association of Trademark Owners in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association, BMG – Authorized distributor of the Adobe Systems for Bulgaria.
Media partners are: Darik Web, Economedia, PR Kernel, Kabinata.com, User Media, CGArt.bg, Calipers, Comfort.bg, tvtv.bg, SeeNews, eTimes, WebIT, .NET, ICT Media, Actualno.com, Need.Bg, Web&Events, Digitrace.bg, Dо BG, .net Magazine, Programata Media Group, bgmaps.com, Lukrat, Orjo.com, ICT Media, Azcheta.com, Billboard JSC, Calls.bg, versia.bg.

For additional information:
Zornitsa Simeonova
Executive Secretary of the BWA
Tel: (02) 916 68 15, 952 22 27
Mobile: 088 888 51 88
E-mail: z.simeonova@bwa.bg

WeBiz/BizWeb – a seminar for web in business

On June 17, 2010 in Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan was held WeBiz/BizWeb – a seminar for web in business. This initiative was organized by ICT Media with the kind support of BASSCOM. The event reflects the opportunities which Web provides for the expansion of market presence and influence.

Through the vision of the web experts, investors and business end-users, WeBiz/BizWeb has presented what stands behind the building and updating of corporative websites; formation and sustain of the web image; priorities and difficulties in the start of business in web. BASSCOM was presented by Mr. George Zahariev, a Board Member of the Association.

Bulgarian Web Association organizes a seminar “Shared Experience”
The registration is free of charge

Bulgarian Web Association organizes one-day free of charge seminar “Shared Experience”. The seminar is a part of the competition Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 and will take place on 22 June, Tuesday, „Bulgaria” hotel, 4, “Tzar Osvoboditel” Blvd., from 9:30 h am to 18:00 h pm.
The main goal of the seminar is leading Bulgarian lectors in the web business to share their experience in different projects implemented by them. All interested in web are welcome.

The seminar is devided in 3 main parts:
1. Legal casuses, audience studying and social networks;
2. New technologies, mobile sites and online marketing;
3. Discussion and Q&A session.

The program and the lectors in the seminar are published on the competition website.
More information about the seminar is published on its Facebook web page.
The seminar will be broadcasted live with the support of Kabinata.com.

The places for participants in the seminar are limited. Please, register here

Golden sponsor is SuperHosting.BG, Silver sponsor is Microsoft Bulgaria, Bronze sponsor is Information Services PLC and Party Sponsor is Еasyads.bg.

Sponsors with material awards are: Adobe Systems - Adobe Creative Suite for the „Author of the Year”; Microsof Bulgaria – key for the „Microsoft WebsiteSpark” for all nominated in „Professional Web Awards” and awards for all winners in the categories of the same group. Guliver Photos – special awards by Getty Images for the winners in the category „News” in “Media Web Awards” and the category „Graphic content” in „Professional Web Awards”; „Stenata” – awards for winners in the three groups in the competition: rucksacks and voucher.

Main media partners are: Media partners are: Nova TV, Darik Web, Economedia.

The Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is organized with the support of:
BASSCOM, ICT Cluster, ASTEL, BAIT, BAA, BALII, AIESEC, Association of Trademark Owners in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association, BMG – Authorized distributor of the Adobe Systems for Bulgaria.

Media partners are: Darik Web, Economedia, PR Kernel, Kabinata.com, User Media, Calipers, Comfort.bg, tvtv.bg, SeeNews, eTimes, WebIT, .NET, ICT Media, Actualno.com, Need.Bg, Web&Events, Digitrace.bg, Dо BG, .net Magazine, Programata Media Group, bgmaps.com, Lukrat, Orjo.com, ICT Media, Azcheta.com, Billboard JSC, Calls.bg, versia.bg, cgart.bg.

For additional information:
Zornitsa Simeonova
Executive Secretary of the BWA
Tel: (02) 916 68 15, 952 22 27
Mobile: 088 888 51 88
E-mail: z.simeonova@bwa.bg

The registration in the Competition Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is extended till 15 June including

The registration in the Competition Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is extended till 15 June 2010. This is the end day for paying the registration fee.

Bulgarian Web Association invites all web studios, companies, media, blogs and forums to apply for the competition on the competition web site. The web sites have the possibility to choose among 39 categories, arranged in 3 main groups: „Branches Web Awards”, „ Media Web Awards” „ Professional Web Awards”.
The registration of the forums and blogs for the categories of the “Media Web Awards” is for free.

The main goal of the competition is to encourage the professionalism in the web, stimulating best practices. The competition will be activly promoted among media, business’ representatives, state institutions and companies, related to the ICT sector. The conditions for the applicants and the competition as a whole are described in its Regulation.

The Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is organized with the support of:
BASSCOM, ICT Cluster, ASTEL, BAIT, BAA, AIESEC, Need.Bg, Web&Events, Digitrace.bg, BMG – Authorized distributor of the Adobe Systems for Bulgaria.

Media partners are: Darik Web, Economedia, PR Kernel, Kabinata.com, User Media, Calipers, Comfort.bg, tvtv.bg, SeeNews, eTimes, WebIT, .NET, ICT Media, Actualno.com, New Television, Programata Media Group.

BASSCOM new Board.

With the decision of the BASSCOM General Assembly (BASSCOM Annual General Meeting which held on 26 May 2010) the Association has new Managment Board:

Chairman
George Brashnarov

Board Members
Bisser Ivanov
Filip Mutafis
George Zahariev
Krum Hadjigeorgiev
Maya Marinova
Roumen Banov
Stamen Kotchkov
Yavor Djonev

The registration for the Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 competition has started

Applications are accepted from 17 May to 13 June 2010

The registration of the applications for the Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 competition has started on 17, May 2010. The competition is organized by the Bulgarian Web Association. Up to 13 June 2010  all can apply and register on www.webawards.bg. The Official Award-giving ceremony will be held on 24 June 2010.

The Bulgarian Web Association gives special discounts to the applicants which depend on the time of registration. The Bulgarian Web Awards competition is opened for all companies and individuals who satisfy the conditions written in the Regulation of the competition.

We remind you that the web projects will be evaluated by a separate jury, compound respectively of business, media and web professionals’ representatives. The evaluation will be public and transparent; the choice of the winners includes live presentations of the finalists on 23 June 2010.  A part of the Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is a special seminar which will present the best practicies of the web professionals.

The main goal of the competition is to encourage the professionalism in the web, stimulating best practices. The competition will be activly promoted among media, business’ representatives, state institutions and companies, related to the ICT sector. The conditions for the applicants and the competition as a whole are described in its Regulation.

The Bulgarian Web Awards 2010 is organized with the support of:
BASSCOM, ICT Cluster, ASTEL, BAIT, BAA, AIESEC, Need.Bg, Web&Events, Digitrace.bg, BMG – Authorized distributor of the Adobe Systems for Bulgaria.

Media partners are: Darik Web, Economedia, PR Kernel, Kabinata.com, User Media, Calipers, Comfort.bg, tvtv.bg, SeeNews, eTimes, WebIT, .NET, ICT Media, Actualno.com, New Television, Programata Media Group.

Golden sponsor of the competition is SuperHosting.BG, Party sponsor is Еasyads.bg. Sponsor with material awards is Adobe Systems. The company will award the “Author of the Year” with Adobe Creative Suite.

For additional information:
Zornitsa Simeonova
Executive Secretary of the BWA
Tel: (02) 916 68 15, 952 22 27
Mobile: 088 888 51 88
E-mail: z.simeonova@bwa.bg

BASSCOM - a partner of “Financing in Bulgarian IT” Forum

BASSCOM has become a conference partner of the forthcoming “Financing in Bulgarian IT” Forum organized by the New Balkans Law Office and StartUP Bulgaria.

Time & Place - 9:30 a.m.; 15th May, 2010 (official working day); American University in Bulgaria, Sofia.

Target groups - Bulgarian entrepreneurs in the IT sector, venture capitalists, institutional investors, corporate investors and limited partners interested in the CEE region.

Conference aims to:

• Offer guidance to entrepreneurs in the IT sector on the financing options available to them
• Offer a series of networking opportunities for all participants
• Examine the latest opportunities and sectors for growth
• Provide a comparative perspective, with speakers from a range of backgrounds sharing their expertise
• Feature showcase pitches by successful companies

Topics include:

• Fundraising in the IT sector: An Overview
• Guidance to entrepreneurs: how to prepare
• The role of business angels and early stage venture capital specialists
• Discussing Exits : What is suitable, when?
• Business Angels, Early Stage Venture Capital, Late Stage Venture Capital
• What are the best sub-sectors for investment in 2010?
• Showcase pitches and the experience of successful companies
• Where on the Bulgarian landscape do VCs and entrepreneurs see opportunity and peril?
• Due diligence and the legal aspects of venture capital in the high technology sector

You can register online at WWW.FINANCINGIT.STARTUPBG.COM

 If you are interested in supporting the event, the sponsorship packages can be found here.

Small and medium-sized IT companies support Commissioner Kroes’ call for open standards and interoperability

The “Digital Agenda for Europe” due to be unveiled by the European Commission later this month must include a clear reference to the importance of open standards and interoperability, according to PIN-SME, the association representing the interests of Europe’s ICT SME sector. In a public letter sent to Commissioner Kroes (1), PIN-SME welcomed her recent declarations in favour of interoperability and open standards and pointed out that both are essential for Europe’s innovation and particularly for ICT small businesses.

 “The European Commission should not miss this opportunity to express clear support to interoperability and open standards; such support would indeed boost confidence amongst ICT SMEs and facilitate innovation”, said Bruno Robine, President of PIN-SME.

According to late rumours, the Digital Agenda for Europe that will be presented in late April might not include a reference to the importance of Open Standards for Interoperability. “I believe that such an omission would be damaging to the interest of the European ICT SMEs”, stated Mr Robine.

The letter of PIN-SME further elaborates on the following principles:
• Preference to open standards in public procurement;
• Enforcement of rules for ex-ante disclosure of IPRs and license conditions in standard-setting;
• Promotion of further interoperability of applications based on de facto standards.

The letter is available at www.pin-sme.eu


PIN-SME is an association formed in 2007 to represent the interests of Europe’s ICT SME sector. Currently ten national and regional associations are members, representing some 50,000 ICT SME companies that account for around 200 thousand jobs. PIN-SME aims to ensure that ICT SMEs get talked to rather than just talked about. It provides a voice for ICT SMEs in the policy and business arenas and is already represented in several EU expert groups and task forces.


PIN-SME members

 BASSCOM - Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BULGARIA), CNA -Comunicazione e Terziario Avanzato, Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media impresa (ITALY), ESTIC - Asociación Empresarial del Sector TIC (SPAIN), BestPractice-IT- G+F Verlags und Beratungsgesellschaft mbH (GERMANY), GPNI - Groupement Professionnel National de l’Informatique (FRANCE), it-forum midtjylland (DENMARK), UBIT Unternehmensberatung & IT (AUSTRIA), UKita, United Kingdom IT Association (UNITED KINGDOM), SwissMedia - Swiss  IT & Multimedia Association (SWITZERLAND), VDEB – Verband IT-Mittelstands E.V. (GERMANY).

EU Gateway Programme  - ICT business mission to Japan

Deloitte Bulgaria has provided BASSCOM with information about EU Gateway Program guided by the European Commission. The aim of the Program is to support the companies form the EU to implement a successful strategy and to consolidate their market positions in Japan and Korea. Furthermore, it provides the firms form the EU region with the opportunity to establish cooperation/business relations with Japanese and Korean companies and to receive information in person for the business opportunities in these countries.

Deloitte as an executor of the Program supports the companies in the whole process from the application throughout the final day of the event.

The companies from the ICT sector can also apply for the Program and their participation in the business mission to Japan is partially financed (for the ICT sector Korea is not considered as a destination). Despite the stipulated meetings, the program contains and two business days during which the company has the opportunity to present its own products and services among local potential partners.

For more information, please contact BASSCOM office.

BITIB II edition launched

We are glad to announce the launch of this year’s Bulgarian IT Industry Barometer Survey (BITIB) among BASSCOM member companies.

The goal of the IT Industry Barometer is to gather representative and reliable data about the Bulgarian IT sector and to learn about the expectations and problems faced by the companies. The survey will be performed on a regular basis so trends on important subjects for the sector can be identified.

The survey is conducted for a second year. The results from the previous year edition can be found here.

European CeBIT Forum for Competitiveness and Growth in SMEs - 4th March, 2010

As you know BASSCOM is a member and co founder of the PAN European ICT and eBusiness Network for SMEs (PIN SME).

PIN SME together with the European Commission (DG Enterprise – eBSN), CeBIT, UEAPME and  G+F Unternehmensgruppe are organizing European CeBIT Forum for Competitiveness and Growth in SMEs 2010 on the topic: Harnessing consistent ICTs to foster SMEs’ participation in a global, competitive and connected economy.

When: Thursday, 4 March 2010, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at CeBIT Studio Mittelstand

Where: live via Internet under www.cebit-studio-mittelstand.de

The objective of the Forum will be to launch a debate on SMEs as global business players, and examine which policy measures and activities lead to success, as well as how can the competitiveness of European user SMEs be improved by means of consistent ICT application.

BASSCOM will aslo be presented at the event by its chairman Mr. George Brashnarov in the panel “SMEs need to improve their IT-know-how constantly! Which political and economic measures and activities do actually lead to an increased competitiveness?”.

Invited are small and medium enterprises, SME federations, organizations, policy makers, chambers of trade and commerce, clusters, interested executive directors from SMEs, scientific institutions and press.

BASSCOM @ eSkills Week 2010

BASSCOM is a national stakeholder for Bulgaria at the eSkills Week 2010. As part ot this European initiative BASSCOM organized the campaign "eSkills at my school".

The campain includes promoting the idea for certification of computer competences and knowledge as a tool for career development and personal success. It continues 5 weeks and covers 40 schools.

Read more

BASSCOM at the Conference of the SEE ICT Businesses and Associations

In the period 18-20 November 2009 BASSCOM took part in  7 th SEEITA – 2nd SEE ICT Forum Board Meeting & 6 th MASIT Open Days (and Nights) Conference. MASIT (Macedonian ICT Chamber of Commerce) is traditionally organizing this conference, through successful gathering of all ICT players in the region, from the private sector, but with strong intention to establish an efficient dialog with all national regulatory bodies from every country participant as well.

The objective of SEEITA, SEE ICT Forum Board and MASIT Open Days was to foster regional cooperation and competitiveness in ICT, and to act as a platform for professionals, buyers and providers to meet and discuss challenges relevant to the industry, and build linkages. This year the Conference was focused on Electronic communications and Broadband technologies, as a key driver towards successful ICT markets both on national and regional level. The conference was attended by 151 participants coming from 16 countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chezh Republic, Croatia, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia).

BASSCOM supported and participated in the Information and Communication Technologies Days 2009 organized by ICT Media

In the period 28-31 October 2009, in Inter Expo Center Sofia for the first time are held the Information and Communication Technologies Days 2009. The event compiles a specialized exhibition - ICT Expo and a conference part.

The exhibition zone includes and the PC World Software Exhibition which was organized for the second year in IEC.  Parallel to the Information and Communication Technologies Days 2009 is held and EXPO PRINT & IMAGING - a specialized exhibition for design, photography, printing, advertisement and visual communications.

The conference part is organized with the support of ICT Media, BASSCOM, ASTEL, BAIT,  the Bulgarian ICT Cluster, SEK, BWA and Bulgarreklama.

During the forum on 28th October BASSCOM was presented by Mr. Roumen Banov- Member of the Association Board in the panel “Public policies and strategies in the ICT sphere”. Among the participants in the discussion were Mr. Parvan Rusinov, the  Prime Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communication and representatives from other state organizations, municipalities, NGOs and companies. Mr. Banov shared the Association opinion that there has to be a unified center which to control all the auctions in the IT sphere in the State Administration by ensuring project coordination including preliminary assessment for investment necessity, analysis of the compatibility with already existing systems. “In Bulgaria there has to be a unified center for decision making in the area of ICT systems. Strict rules and criteria for submission of big IT project in the Administration have to be established starting from planning level- said Roumen Banov, Effective model for monitoring, audit, reengineering of the basic processes in the State Administration and introduction of module principle of the processes are needed.”

The program of the forum on 29th October included a panel which was a logical continuation of the discussion “IT in Crisis” form 29th March, 2009 with the goal to track the tendencies in the business development 6 months after  the first comments about the crisis in Bulgaria. BASSCOM was represented in this panel by Ms. Diana Stefanova, Member of the Association Board. Other participants in the session were A.T. Kearney, Mobiltel, CIO Club Bulgaria, ENEL Maritsa Iztok, BAIT. Ms. Stefanova stated some recipes for surviving the crisis in the Software branch among which are- companies flexibility (positioning the idea “software as a service” among the customers), investment in new software solutions (IT companies themselves invest for developing new products and services as there is lack of financing from VC and the Government), consulting rather than outsourcing, the State role in terms of crisis ( the investment making in the IT branch will indirectly reflect on the rest sectors, because the process optimization by software solutions will lower the expenses and the production prime cost. Thus, the competitive power of the Bulgarian companies will be risen.

On 30rd October, 2009 is being conducted and National conference “ Information technologies for the new education”.

New Portal for Promoting Bulgaria as Preferred Investment and Business Destination

The American University in Bulgaria, in partnership with Bulgarian software company Eastisoft and the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, is pleased to announce the launch of www.InvestNet.bg – an innovative networking and information exchange platform for promotion of investments and doing business in Bulgaria.

The initiative is funded by the Bulgaria Fund - a grant-making mechanism of USAID and the German Marshall Fund and seeks to provide comprehensive and up-to-date investment information about Bulgaria.

“One of the main contributions of InvestNet.bg is to promote extensively Bulgarian investment advantages and to turn this website into a primary crossing point of the foreign investment community in Bulgaria. It serves as a networking tool for communication, interaction and exchange of information among investors, governmental institutions, sectoral organizations, private companies, and foreign commercial attachés in Bulgaria”, said Dr. Olga Borissova, Project Manager of InvestNet.bg and Director of the Centre for European Programmes of the American University in Bulgaria.

Throughout and following the economic crisis, worldwide investment flows have shrunk compared to previous years and country competition for attracting foreign direct investments is growing. After the time of “easy” investments in real estate is over, concerted efforts have to be applied to improve Bulgaria’s image as an attractive destination for investments and doing business in various sectors of economy.

“In order to facilitate the process of investment and business decision-making we utilize modern Internet technologies which allow foreign investors to quickly and easily find the necessary economic or sectoral information and to receive legal, tax, or any other consultancy through the Targeted Enquiry Service”, Eastisoft CEO Deyan Vassilev added.

The materials, analyses, reports, and surveys published on InvestNet.bg compile the efforts of more than 30 companies – representatives of the world’s leading consultancy, research, marketing, and audit companies, accounting firms, law firms, as well as branch organisations, chambers of commerce and associations. BASSCOM was one of the supporters of InvestNet.bg. The portal allows investors to search for information and obtain relevant investment and business advice. InvestNet.bg provides not only key background information about the country but also focuses on existing opportunities in the different sectors, investment projects that seek financing, as well as opportunities related to European Union post-accession funds and the public procurement market.

For more information about this innovative investment platform, please visit: www.InvestNet.bg.

BASSCOM has become a Webit partner

We are glad to announce that BASSCOM has become a partner of Webit – the only B2B Internet Business and Marketing  Exhibition & Conference for Southeastern Europe.

The event will be held on 7 and 8 October (Wednesday and Thursday) 2009.
Place of the exhibition is the National Palace of Culture (NDK), Sofia, Bulgaria – the biggest Congress event venue in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Webit -e-Business & e-Marketing Expo for SE Europe is the first event of such scale in the region of Southeastern Europe. At the heart of Webit is The Main Stage, where the very essence of modern integrated marketing will be debated and challenged by influential industry leaders.

Some of the Keynote speakers in Webit conference program are:  Google’s Head of New Markets, the Head of International Business Marketing at eBay, the Managing Director Platform-A UK - America Online (AOL), the President & CEO of IAB Europe, the Digital Innovation Manager of Guardian,Sr. Manager, PayPal Poland and many more.

BASSCOM member companies are granted with additional discount of the Webit prices by booking a Business Package, which grants you access to all sessions and panels at the Main Stage.

For additional information, please, contact BASSCOM office.

Memorandum between the Bulgarian Branch Organisations in the ICT sector and Political Party GERB

On 30 June 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria was signed a Memorandum of understanding between the Bulgarian ICT branch organizations - BAIT, BASSCOM, the Bulgarian ICT Cluster, Bulgarian Web Association, Association Electronic Communications and Political Party GERB.

The Memorandum states that the bissness and policy makers will create and fulfill state policies for stable development for the ICT sector and the Bulgarian Economy. They will focus on improvement of the educational system in the state through use of the ICT in the educational processes, as well as increasing the IT literacy of the population. One of the priorities will be adoption of the legislation necessary for the development of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the sector, which will support the development of the other individual sectors and industries in the economy which are not subject to investment and trade interset. The business will coordinate the significant ICT projects with the goal to optimize the state expenses and to increase the share of the public services, provided by the private sector. Last but not least, a set of adecuate measures - legislative, economical, financial will be prepeared, which will create favorable conditions for development of innovations and their industrialization.

Memorandum between the Bulgarian and Spanish (Extramaduran) Associations from  the  ICT sector

On 9th of June in Sofia, Bulgaria was signed a Memorandum of understanding between  the Bulgarian ICT branch organizations - ASTEL, BAIT, BASSCOM, the Bulgarian ICT Cluster  and associations form Extremadura, Spain-  the Association of Knowledge Cluster, the Association of ITC Cluster and the Federation of Associations of Technology and Information companies of the Extremadura (FIEX).

The Memorandum was an expression of the organizations’ common wish and intention to establish reciprocal collaborating, coordinating and complementary synergies in the aspects of: information exchange in both economical and commercial issues, dissemination of trade interests among the organizations’ members, support in promoting businesses in the technological sector (e.g. seminars, working days based on training, carried out by specialists from Bulgaria and Extremadura). All the associations agreed on gathering their strengths for establishing mechanisms and structures of collaboration in the area of procedure design software, software production and ITC networks installation as well as any area related to Information and Communication Technologies.

BASSCOM new Board.

With the decision of the BASSCOM General Assembly (BASSCOM Annual General Meeting which held on 26 May 2009) the Association has new Managment Board:

Chairman
George Brashnarov

Board Members
Anton Gavrailov
Diana Stefanova
George Sharkov
George Zahariev
Krasimir Stoyanov
Maya Marinova
Roumen Banov
Stamen Kotchkov

One year PIN-SME: High approval by the European Comission

After two years of intensive preparation, PIN-SME (Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for SMEs) was established in December 2007 in Brussels, where the organisation is also based. The eight found-
ing members represent more than 50,000 IT-SMEs with over 200,000 employees throughout Europe. With PIN-SME as the umbrella organisation, IT-SMEs now speak with one voice.

In its endeavours to assist IT-SMEs, PIN-SME is intensely supported by the Brussels-based organisations UEAPME and NORMAPME.

UEAPME is the employer organisation for commerce, trade and SMEs in the EU. From the 82 member  organisations, more than 12 million businesses with over 55 million employees are  represented. NORMAPME is a unique organisation with trans-European engagement for representing  the interests of European SMEs with regards to standardisation. The member organisations represent more than 11 million businesses in all EU and EFTA Member States.

The PIN-SME Vice Presidents hold positions in various European bodies, such as the IT-Forum in  Denmark, the BASSCOM in Bulgaria or the UKITA in Great Britain, as well as many more.

Twelve months of political work – a short retrospect
Within the first year of its existence, PIN-SME established an effective organisation and communications structure, which aided the dismantling of existing geo-graphic and intercultural barriers among the members.

Since existence, its presence has been clearly displayed and much has been ac-complished in a short time. At the fifth eBusiness Watch conference in May, PIN-SME founding member and Vice President in Great Britain, Mike Sharpe, gave an impressive presentation on the subject “the Challenge of eSkills in SMEs”. The confer-ence was organised through a programme launched by the European Commission (Sectoral eBusiness Watch). The results of the newest studies for the acceptance of eBusiness in specific fields were presented. The goal of the event was to gain support from policy and industry decision-makers through the identification of important eBusiness trends as well as by discussing various scenarios and their effects on business.

For example, this was how PIN-SME Presi-dent, Johann Steszgal (Austria), defined the point of view of the IT-SMEs at the European eSkills conference in Thessaloniki from the October 9-10, 2008.

He presented the PIN-SME position paper and explained that eSkills for citizens and businesses in Europe are a key factor for the increase in production, competitive-ness and occupations and the success of the Lisbon Strategy. In particular, PIN-SME expressed recommendations on behalf of IT-SMEs on the subject of eSkills.

At the 11th Summit Economic Forum of the Central European Initiative (CEI), hosted by Moldava, PIN-SME and the European Commission both took part in a conference entitled “SMEs and ICT in the CEI region: The role of business associa-tions in fostering growth and competitive-ness”. PIN-SME was represented by Gen-eral Secretary, Sebastiano Toffaletti. George Brashnarov (Bulgaria) and Martin Prager (Austria) were also present on behalf of their national organisations.

At the 20th World Computer Congress (WCC 2008) from September 7th to 10th, PIN-SME President, Johann Steszgal and Gianfranco Granara, Vice President for PIN-SME in Italy, were invited as speakers. For the first time, the event was hosted in Milan (Italy) in the Milan Convention Cen-tre with the support of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). The World Computer Congress 2008 consists of major conferences, organised by the technical committee of the International Federation for Information Processing, and associated workshops and seminars. The PIN-SME delegates spoke on the subject “ICT Procurement and the Challenge of Specialisation for Small and Micro Enterprises”.

At The ICT-Event in Lyon from November 25-27, PIN-SME organised a network session focussing on the role of IT-SMEs as catalysers for innovation processes. The goal of the session was, among others, to establish how IT-SMEs can contribute to the innovation process and which assistance they require in order to fulfil this role. This event is the biggest of its kind for ICT in Europe.

SMEs Earn Recognition
“SMEs play a significant role in the Europe-an economy. Therefore, they deserve our attention when taking political measures, especially when it involves their competi-tiveness”, confirmed Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, to PIN-SME. “The introduction of Information and Communication Systems occurs often enough at too high of costs and too slowly, yet it is also hindered by the primary focus of solution providers on the market of major enterprises”, continued Reding.

Through a lasting representation of the interests of IT-SMEs on the European stage, PIN-SME indirectly supports the harmonisation of ICT application in small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. It also helps to secure and generate jobs, thereby strengthening the economic power of the European economies.

Goals 2009
One of the primary goals for PIN-SME in 2009 is the acquisition of additional members to be able to reinforce the voice of IT-SMEs in European countries even more. Within the scope of CeBIT 2009, PIN-SME will organise the “Third European Expert Forum for Innovation and Internationalisation in SMEs”. Last but not least, the creative power of all parties involved will be oriented to further promote the issues of IT-SMEs.

Additional information about PIN-SME,
its goals and its activities can be found
in the Internet: www.pin-sme.eu

BASSCOM new Board.

With the decision of the BASSCOM General Assembly (BASSCOM Annual General Meeting which held on 15 April 2008) the Association has new Managment Board:

Chairman
George Brashnarov

Board Members
Elena Marinova
George Sharkov
George Zahariev
Krasimir Stoyanov
Krum Hadjigeorgiev
Stoian Boev
Tsvetan Alexiev
Vesselin Mladenov

BASSCOM become a Founding Member of PIN-SME - PAN EUROPEAN ICT & eBUSINESS NETWORK FOR SMEs (http://www.pin-sme.eu)

“The voice of SMEs in Europe”

UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers’ organisation, is pleased to announce the creation last week (03 December 2007) of the first European association exclusively focused on representing the interests of the SME community in the ICT sector. The Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for SMEs (PIN-SME) aims at bringing ICT SMEs on the business and political scene, where so far large companies have dominated. Its founding members are national sectoral SME federations and ICT clusters from 8 EU countries, representing more than 50.000 enterprises employing around 200.000 people across Europe. PIN-SME will focus on policy issues such as software patents, ICT standardisation, e-invoicing, e-health and e-skills.

“We believe that European SMEs must speak with one voice on the development of European ICT policies – a voice that is becoming stronger today with the creation of PIN-SME”, said UEAPME Secretary General Hans-Werner Müller. “UEAPME and NORMAPME fully support this new initiative, which is rooted in the past battles fought by small businesses on software patents, which reinforce monopolisation in the software sector, damage interoperability and act as a barrier to innovation by SMEs.”

The statutes of PIN-SME were signed in Brussels on 3 December in the presence of Mr Müller, NORMAPME’s Director Loucas Gourtsoyannis, Ms Françoise Le Bail, SME Envoy and Deputy Director General of the EC’s DG Enterprise, Mr Paul Rübig MEP and Dr Jorgo Chatzimarkakis MEP. The PIN-SME General Assembly meeting on the same day appointed Mr Johann Steszgal from the Austrian ICT organisation UBIT and NORMAPME’s Sebastiano Toffaletti respectively as PIN-SME President and Secretary General.

“The standardisation process in the ICT sector will be a key policy priority for PIN-SME”, announced the newly elected PIN-SME President. “We believe that standards are indeed useful for ICT companies operating in the internal market if they are designed according to their needs. We will work to make sure that ICT SMEs are fully consulted and their views are taken into consideration in the decision-making process.”

Mr Steszgal then went on to elaborate on the other policy dossiers PIN-SME will deal with. First of all, the attractiveness of the ICT profession in Europe must be increased. Small businesses in the ICT sector lack qualified personnel, therefore it is crucial to increase ICT-related training opportunities and foster professionals’ mobility. Secondly, new technologies such as e-invoicing and e-health provide opportunities for ICT SMEs that are not fully exploited at the moment. As far as the current debate on “e-skills” is concerned, PIN-SME will promote ICT SMEs as the most appropriate vehicle to spread the use of ICT tools in all small businesses.

“PIN-SME aims to become a reliable and trusted partner for the European institutions and standardisation bodies, building on the expertise of its members and its parent organisations UEAPME and NORMAPME”, concluded Mr Steszgal.

UEAPME is the employers’ organisation representing crafts, trades and SMEs from the EU and accession countries at European level. UEAPME has 84 member organisations, which represent crafts and SMEs across Europe, covering over 12 million enterprises with 50 million employees. UEAPME is a European Social Partner.

PIN-SME has currently members in the following EU countries: Austria (UBIT), Bulgaria (BASSCOM), Denmark (it-forum midtjylland), France (GPNI), Germany (BestPractice-IT), Italy (CNA Comunicazione e Terziario Avanzato), Spain (ESTIC) and United Kingdom (Ukita). For further information on PIN-SME, please visit http://www.pin-sme.eu/

Bulgaria will be a partner country to SYSTEMS 2007, 23-26 October 2007 in Munich.

Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy, Mr. Petar Dimitrov has accepted the invitation of the Bavarian Minister of Economy, Transport, Infrastructure and Technologies Mr. Erwin Huber that Bulgaria will be a partner country to SYSTEMS 2007.

BASSCOM will organise the participation of software companies at the event, as usual. And it has became a tradition, as well, GTZ will provide financial and organisational support to our participation.

The conditions of participation will be confirmed soon.

If you are interested to participate at Systems 2007 please, send your request to office@basscom.org.

For additional information please, contact Maya Marinova, Executive Director, BASSCOM, tel. +359 2 489 97 43, e-mail: executive@basscom.org.

Bulgaria has been ranked in the top 10 of the A.T. Kearney’s annual ranking of the most attractive locations for “offshoring” of service activities such as IT, business processes and call centers.

"Central and Eastern Europe: new contenders climb the rankings
The trend from last year continues as the established service providers in the region, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland lose ground while emerging locations quickly move up the rankings. Bulgaria replaces the Czech Republic as the only country from the region in the top 10.  Both Bulgaria and Romania see big jumps in their business environment scores, as they complete preparations to join the European Union in 2007."

http://www.atkearney.com/shared_res/pdf/GSLI_2007.pdf

BASSCOM new Board.

With the decision of the BASSCOM General Assembly (BASSCOM Annual General Meeting wich held on 17 April 2007) the Association has new Managment Board:

Chairman 
George Brashnarov

Board Members
George Sharkov
Krasimir Stoyanov
Krum Hadjigeorgiev
Tsvetan Alexiev
Stoian Boev
Vesselin Mladenov

BASSCOM new contacts

As of 02 April 2007 the telephone numbers of BASSCOM have been changed as follows:
 
Tel.: +359 2 489 97 43
Fax: +359 2 489 97 42

The already traditional BASSCOM Programming Competition for 2006 finished successfully.

The prizes were awarded at BASSCOM New Year's Party, which took place in Bitburger Club in Sofia on 08.02.2007. The awards were presented by Mr. Tosho Nedyalkov, Deputy Chairman of the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications, Mr. George Brashnarov, Nemetschek Bulgaria (General Sponsor) and Mrs. Nadya Atanasova, Tumbleweed (Golden Sponsor).

In the Competition took part 55 young talents. For the first time the winner of the Tournament is a lady - Ivelina Zaharieva, Senior Assistant Professor on Biophysics in Sofia University. In the last year competition she won a spesial award for the most innovative solution.

For more information about this event, please, click here - PR-BASSCOM_2007.doc

Countdown launched for BestPractice-IT Award 2007!

Already for the fourth time small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany and Europe have the chance to apply for the BestPractice-IT Award. They need to meet only one condition: The realisation of an exemplary benefit-bringing ICT concept within the company!

More info Press_Release_BestPracticeIT.pdf
 
The application form is available under www.bestpractice-it.de.
 
BestPractice-IT asks all small and medium-sized enterprises to commit
themselves for strong and sustainable SMEs in Europe by applying for the
BestPractice-IT Awards and special prizes from 1 September 2006 until 30
November, 2006.
 
In 2007 the award ceremony will again take place within the framework of CeBIT in Hanover with correspondingly high attention. BestPractice-IT is both an official organ of CeBIT-Mittelstand (www.cebit-mittelstand.de), the trade show for medium-sized business, and a strategic media partner of the Electronic Business Network (www.ec-net.de) supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour (BMWA).
 
Last year the Bulgarian company Gaskomfort PLS received a special award from BestPractice-IT for "Best IT solution for the customers’ benefit".
 
For any additional information you could contact us as well, as BASSCOM is a partner and contact point of BestPractice-IT.
 
We wish you a success!

BASSCOM and ESI Center Bulgaria on 4th SEEITA Conference “ICT Driving force for SEE region development” And 3rd MASIT OPEN DAYS
May 11- 12, Skopje, Macedonia

On May 11-12, 2006, in Skopje, Macedonia took place the 4th South Eastern Europe IT Associations Conference “ICT Driving force for SEE region development”, where BASSCOM is a co-organizer. The conference was addressed by the Premier Minister of Republic of Macedonia Mr. Vlado Buchkovski,  joined by the President of the Macedonian Association for Information Technology (MASIT), Mr. Toni Petreski.

More than 200 participants from ICT businesses in the SEE region participated in the two-day conference and discussed improving the synergy of ICT activities and ICT investment development in the region, including know-how sharing on innovations and opportunities. 

Bulgaria was represented by BASSCOM, ESI Center Bulgaria and BAIT as NGO organizations, and IT companies - Antipodes, BMG, Edimit and others.

BASSCOM and ESI Center Bulgaria covered one of the most interesting and of high importance topics: Corporate excellence in the SEE region.
Mr. George Sharkov (Chairman of BASSCOM and Director of ESI Center Bulgaria) shared with other participants BASSCOM experience in helping its members to apply good practices in building company excellence. The new quality mark, specially designed for SMEs by ESI (ITMark) was presented. After the success of the first ITMark pilot project in Bulgaria, a new project for Macedonia, supported by GTZ and USAID was announced.
The session was moderated by Mr. George Brashnarov, Vice Chairman of BASSCOM. 

The conference provided a platform for Business to Business (B2B) and Business to government (B2G) exchange and cooperation and promotion of possibilities for future business services and products too. 

As conclusions the conference endorsed the MoU for Regional ICT Competitiveness Initiative for execution of the plan for regional cooperation and branding. The implementation will be coordinated by a workgroup, hosted by ESI Center Bulgaria.

Bulgaria at CeBIT: Modest, but focused;
BestPracticeIT 2006 special award to Bulgarian company

BASSCOM participated in Bulgarian ICT presentation at CeBIT 2006 - 6 companies were present on the national booth in Hall 8 or in their partner's pavilions. The initiative for regional cooperation and branding was supported by most of East European countries - IT associations and donor programs. The goal is to sign a memorandum at the forthcoming conference in Skopje, May 2006. For the first time Bulgaria was presented by joint catalogue of all companies and organizations at CeBIT - published by the ICT Cluster.

The Bulgarian company Gaskomfort PLS received a special award from BestPractice-IT (www.bestpractice-it.de). BestPractice-IT is both an official organ of CeBIT-Mittelstand (www.cebit-mittelstand.de), the trade show for medium-sized business, and a strategic media partner of the Electronic Business Network (www.ec-net.de) supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour (BMWA). BASSCOM is a partner and contact point of BestPractice-IT.

The already traditional BASSCOM Programming Competition for 2005 finished successfully.

The prizes were awarded at BASSCOM New Year Party, which took place in Bitburger Club in Sofia on 31.01.2006. The awards were presented by Mr. Stoitcho Stoikov, Deputy Chairman of the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications, and George Sharkov, Chairman of BASSCOM.

For a second time the first-place winner is Rostislav Roumenov who is still a high-school student.

Apart of the First-, Second- and Third-place awards, this year the organizers decided to announce a special award for the most innovative solution, won by Ivelina Zaharieva.

The evnet was kindly sponsored by: Bianor, Musala Soft, Nemetschek Bulgaria, SAP Labs Bulgaria, Sciant, Sirma Group, Soft-innovations, Web Gate.

For more information about this event, please, click here

BASSCOM signed a Declaration of Intent at World Outsourcing Forum - DUBAI, Sept 2005

World Outsourcing Forum delegates Sign Declaration of Intent

The document will serve as a precursor to the Dubai Declaration of Outsourcing to be announced in 2006. The World Outsourcing Forum was held in Dubai from 27th to 28th September 2005

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Industry delegates of the World Outsourcing Forum (WOF) have drafted and signed a declaration of intent which will serve as a guideline to standardize outsourcing practices, facilitate the development of the outsourcing industry globally and overcome issues limiting industry development.

Led by Ismail Al Naqi, Director of Dubai Outsource Zone the declaration was signed by industry leaders from various outsourcing destinations including Florin Vrejoiu, Director General, Aries, Romania; George Sharkov, Chairman, Basscom, Bulgaria; Suresh Bartlett, Director, ICTA, Sri Lanka; David Walsh, Malta Enterprise, Malta; Nalin Koli, Chairman, ESC, India; Valentin Makarov, Chairman, Russoft, Russia 

The Steering Committee will seek to work together to raise awareness of the benefits of outsourcing and create a positive public perception of the industry through marketing campaigns and educational initiatives. They will seek to provide joint funding to support academic research on outsourcing, and will facilitate research to support outsourcing associations and their members.

This story was printed from Global Outsourcing at http://www.GlobalOutsourcing.org
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Article Title: World Outsourcing Forum delegates Sign Declaration of Intent
URL: http://www.GlobalOutsourcing.org/content/NewswireFeeds/1899/105100606.asp  

BestPractice-IT is both an official organ of CeBIT-Mittelstand (www.cebit-mittelstand.de), the trade show for medium-sized business, and a strategic media partner of the Electronic Business Network (www.ec-net.de) supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour (BMWA).

BASSCOM - “on the road” in USA: San Francisco – Seattle – Washington DC
(The Chairman’s summary)

29 Nov – 7 Dec, 2004

Stop 1: California (San Francisco, Palo Alto, Stanford)
Bulgarian IT industry started its biggest ever 10-days “Road show” in USA in the Silicon Valley heart - Stanford University. During the 3-days Gateway Summit 2004 more than 20 leading Bulgarian software companies met potential American clients, partners, investors and Bulgarian IT Diaspora. The 10 BASSCOM companies provoked interest with the unique knowledge in the applied domains, flexible innovative solutions and mature engineering organization.

BASSCOM, BIBA, BAIT and ASTEL associations, together with Minister of Finance Milen Velchev, Deputy Minister of Transport Nedelcho Nedelchev and the Director of InvestBulgaria Agency Pavel Ezekiev, presented Bulgarian software industry as a priority of the national competitiveness strategy - ICTalent Bulgaria.

The “giants” HP, Cisco, Intel and Siebel also welcomed the Bulgarian IT delegation.
Trends for long-term projects and opportunities for partnership were discussed.

Stop 2: Seattle, Washington State
BASSCOM became a member of the largest software association – Washington Software Alliance. As a result BASSCOM members will be listed in the directory of more than 1,000 USA companies.

The newly elected Governor in Washington State – the state with highest R&D investments in High-Tech, recognized Bulgaria as a preferred partner for IT business on his first public appearance. Presentations and match-making were organized in Seattle and Tacoma, colored also by Bulgarian music and dances performed by … Americans! Thank you, Bob ...

In Microsoft premises the Bulgarian group was acquainted with new technological trends, partnership programs and futuristic “all connected” office and home.

Stop 3: Washington DC
The “road show” ended with the most concentrated and intensive program – meetings with strategic partners such as Virginia Economic Development Partnership, CSIS (www.csis.org), Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). A conference “Discover Bulgaria” was co-hosted by NVTC. Meetings and match-making forum dedicated to support for start-ups and business development, financing IT ventures, sources for funding from US government and multilateral banks.

BASSCOM participation in NVTC (www.nvtc.org) innovations program and activities was agreed.

The events and the closing reception were opened by the Bulgarian Ambassador in USA (H.E. Elena Poptodorova) and chaired by the Director of the InvestBulgaria Agency Pavel Ezekiev. Thank you, Elitsa ...

The road ahead

Big companies, like HP, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop-Grumman, expect their future Bulgarian partners to apply the world recognized quality standard CMM/CMMI, as well as systems for strategic planning like Balanced Score Cards. Current suppliers from USA, India, China and Japan are ahead.

At a symbolic board meeting in Palo Alto, the cradle of the software industry, the Managing Board of BASSCOM prepared a statement to the Bulgarian government aiming to encourage software companies to implement CMM/CMMI standards.

BASSCOM demands the Government to recognize the excellence of Bulgarian software companies, as a key for ICT competitiveness, and proactively support it. The first step was made by establishing the regional excellence center of European Software Institute (www.esicenter.bg). Further, BASSCOM requires the government to establish a dedicated fund to cover, at least partly, the successful CMMI appraisals.

The profile of Bulgarian software industry turned to be very attractive for the new wave in outsourcing - solution partnership and joint project development. This new way of off-shoring creates new opportunities for expansion and growth for USA companies, and replaces the fear of closing jobs. The advantages of Bulgarian teams are:

Creativity – talents (leaders in maths, science, informatics), innovative spirit
Capability – education capacity, perfect references, flexible teams
Maturity – software engineering standards (CMMI), project & business management

The small, flexible and innovative teams, performing a boutique-type of projects in challenging fields, are the pioneers of Bulgarian ICT competitiveness. At least three regions in US - California, Washington State, Washington DC, are already aware and convinced. The rest is … just do it!

The visit of  Bulgarian IT delegation to the USA was organized by Invest Bulgaria Agency and MSI.

BASSCOM and BAIT will present the Bulgarian IT industry and the Indian IT indusrty will be presented by National Association of Software Services Companies, Electronics and Software Promotion Council, Manufacturing Association of IT. During the workshop that will follow the Bulgarian and Indian representatives will discuss the opportunities for cooperation.