One hundred and fifteen Australian software companies descended on Sydney Town hall last week to seek out strategic partners, lobby for stronger investment incentives and learn how the Irish do it.

Opened by the Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism (DIST), John Moore, it was the third and largest Australian Software Showcase to be organised by the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and DIST.

According to Kim Yeadon, NSW Minister for Information Technology, who also spoke, the IT Industry last year employed 160,000 people, generated $3.4 billion in export dollars and $33 billion domestically. But, “software imports still exceed software exports two to one,” he said.

E-commerce products featured prominently in the Sowcase, demonstrating the nimbleness of the Australian IT industry.

WebGenie Software is a two-year old company that is already exporting its virtual shopping carts to 50 countries. The company estimates second year sales are running at about $2 million.

Eighty per cent of exports are to the United States and 10 per cent to Europe. Only 2 per cent of sales are remaining in Australia.

“Australia is way behind the US in e- commerce and seems very hesitant in buying that type of software,” said WebGenie’ s international business development manager, Andrew Mackenzie.

Shopping Cart Pro is one of a raft of Web site design and e-commerce enabling tools that have been developed over the past two years.