商业

　　IT in Myanmar

　　缅甸IT业

　　Yangon's digital spring

　　仰光的数字之春

　　An isolated country gradually goes online

　　一个封闭的国家逐渐地走上了网络前线

　　WHERE did BarCamp, a get-together of tech geeks (pictured), recently hold its biggest event since its founding in Silicon Valley seven years ago?

　　七年前Barcamp(即国际研讨会网络）在硅谷成立，这个科技业怪才的聚会（见图），最近在哪里举行其最重大的活动呢？

　　Not San Jose, nor Bangalore, nor even Singapore.

　　不在圣何塞（哥斯达黎加首都），不在班加罗尔（印度南部城市），甚至也不在新加坡。

　　On February 11th more than 5,000 developers and bloggers gathered in Yangon, the main city of Myanmar, one of the world's most tech-starved places.

　　2月11日，超过5000家开发商和博客达人汇聚缅甸的大城市——仰光，一个世界上最乏科技的地方。

　　The star speaker was the country's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

　　本次集会的著名发言者是缅甸反对党领袖Aung San Suu Kyi（昂山素姬）。

　　Myanmar's government continues to surprise the world with its new-found tolerance for change.

　　缅甸政府一再以其对新出炉的改革采取容忍态度而震惊世界。

　　Its apparent willingness to nurture a fledgling IT sector is no exception.

　　毫不例外，当局明显愿意培养一个刚刚起步的IT信息部门。

　　Myanmar has lowered its firewalls, opening access to social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

　　缅甸已经放低了其防火墙，对外开放了如脸谱网facebook和推特twitter等社会媒体网站。

　　People can read international newspapers online or chat with family abroad via Skype.

　　人们能够阅读国际在线新闻，或者通过skype和国外亲戚聊天。

　　Sponsors of BarCamp included the telecommunications ministry.

　　Barcamp的赞助方包括了政府通信部门。

　　Though the government now acknowledges the importance of an IT industry for economic development, much work remains.

　　尽管政府当局现在承认IT业对经济发展的重要性，但仍有很多的工作要做。

　　Few people in Myanmar own computers and only a handful can afford the sort of connectivity that is commonplace elsewhere.

　　少数人缅甸拥有自己的电脑，且其中仅仅一小撮人能支付得起那种沟通无处不在的联通方式。

　　Setting up an internet connection costs $850, and monthly packages range between $40 and $150.

　　设置一个互联网连接得花费850美金，每月租金40美金至150美金不等。

　　A SIM card for a mobile phone will set you back $700.

　　一张移动手机SIM卡将花掉你700美金。

　　Yet demand for IT is soaring.

　　然而，缅甸IT业的需求是猛烈剧增的。

　　Firms from Asia and the West are paying unofficial visits, and local companies are scrambling to become their partners.

　　来自西方和亚洲通信企业的非正式造访，缅甸仰光当地的公司正争先恐后地成为他们的合作商。

　　The government faces a barrage of proposals on how to lower the cost of mobile phones and how to build data centres to compete with those in India and the Philippines.

　　政府部门接到了一大堆关于如何降低手机成本和如何组建数据中心用以抗衡印度和菲律宾的建议书。

　　A call centre was recently established, and there are even online-shopping sites in the works.

　　最近建立了一个寻呼中心，甚至有一些在线购物网站正在筹划当中。

　　Transactions online are widely expected to start this year: the infrastructure is ready and a payment union has been formed.

　　在线交易在大众期待下有望在今年运行：基础设施已经准备好，一个支付联盟也已经形成。

　　Yet despite these encouraging signs of liberalisation, no one expects Myanmar's cyber-awakening to progress at broadband speed.

　　虽然有这些鼓舞人心的自由开放化迹象，还没有人指望缅甸的网络发展会达到宽带速度。