David Legard

Demand for disaster recovery services in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) market is growing at 20 per cent per year and will be worth US$1.3 billion by 2006 compared to $551 million in 2001, according to market researcher IDC.

The vast majority of successful attacks on computer systems exploit security weaknesses which are well known and for which patches exist, according to research company Gartner Inc.

Sales of PCs in China grew 22 per cent in 2001 to reach 8.79 million units, and will maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent over the next four years, according to market-research company IDC.

Singapore has the most developed electronic government systems in Asia, but Hong Kong has advanced fastest in e-government deployment in 2001, according to a research study released last week by Accenture Ltd.

Unit sales of smart handheld devices in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) region grew 36.7 per cent to 2.91 million units and will maintain similar growth over the next four years, according to research analyst IDC.

The smart-card market in Asia experienced a watershed year in 2001, as the cost of systems fell, card issuers began to offer multiple applications and governments put their weight behind the technology, according to Shuan Ghaidan, vice-president of advanced payment systems at MasterCard International Inc.

Indian telecommunications carrier Bharti Group and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) have finished building their joint US$250 million i2i cable connecting the two countries. The cable will enter commercial service within the next four weeks, SingTel said in a statement late Monday.

The Telephone Organization of Thailand is to embark on a US$9 million expansion of its nationwide IP backbone network following the successful implementation of the first phase of its network.