Bio-IT hot topic at upcoming seminars

Research firm IDC is to host two breakfast briefings on the bio-IT industry, with a particular focus on Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

The briefings -- in Melbourne on October 23 and Sydney on October 24 -- will be hosted by IDC's Asia-Pacific director of life sciences, Phil Fersht.

Fersht said he would discuss the impact of the new information-driven drug R&D methods on the global IT industry, and provide an update on new advances in IT that were being created from the convergence of life sciences and IT.

The briefing will also address the question of how quickly the Australian and Asian drug discovery industries were embracing IT-driven R&D, and whether they could penetrate global markets.

Key questions to be covered will include:

• What is the market opportunity for infrastructure sales and IT services into new biology applications?
• What partnerships, alliances and joint ventures do IT vendors need to establish to build a presence in the biotech space?
• What are the key segments and players in the market?
• What are the emerging business models in biotech and what does it take to win in this segment?
• What is the current picture of the emerging bioscience environment in Australia/New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific, and how is this picture likely to evolve over the next few years?
• What are strategies of the major the IT vendors across the Asia-Pacific?
• How can IT vendors position themselves in this marketplace, and what key challenges do they face when seeking to win business in bioscience?

To register, go to www.idc.com.au/resources/bb/bio/default.htm. For more information, contact Sandra Rizk at srizk@idc.com or (02) 9925 2229.

IDC is a sister company to IDG, the publisher of Australian Biotechnology News