App economy driving job growth

The application economy has positively impacted job growth, economic competitiveness, and the ability of governments to provide better services to citizens, according to a survey conducted by he Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for CA Technologies.

Moreover, collaboration exists between the public and private sectors across the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, the research found.

More than 74% of government respondents in APJ have indicated that application start-ups are crucial or important in driving growth of the application economy and 79% say the same for large enterprises who have application-based products and services

More than 95% of government respondents, 90% of enterprises and 81% of start-ups also said they have seen collaboration among the three groups.

Meanwhile, 85% of government respondents in APJ see the technology sector as an important and often crucial driver of economic growth in their regions.

“Across Asia Pacific and Japan, we are witnessing digital transformation becoming an integral part of the national agenda for many governments. In the application economy, where every business is a software business, growing digital capabilities has become the key to staying competitive,” CA Technologies president and general manager Kenneth Arredondo said.

“Governments, startups, and even large enterprises are not only beginning to understand the necessity of this but that partnership, be it technology integration or B2B sales, can be a boon to their growth,” he added.

All parties, however, agreed that there is still more that can be done. For one, government respondents named a shortage of tech talent stemming from a lack of educational or training programs as the largest barrier to the growth of the application economy (48%). This was followed by one-third of APJ government respondents pointing to a lack of public funding.