China’s government claims that the number of Chinese Internet users is most likely to surpass that of the United States, currently the country with the biggest number of citizens with access to the Internet.

This means that China is set to become the country with the biggest footprint online, making its presence felt on the Web as it has done in the real world. Soon, the entities that direct the very existence of the Internet would have no choice but acknowledge the growing Chinese character of the online world. Are we then about to see a diminishing in the Net’s Anglo-centric characteristics?

What about the campaign to preserve the Net’s neutrality and freedom from censorship? With China’s government relentless with its efforts to keep in control of the Chinese’s behavior online, would it mean that the Internet’s biggest demographic can never have fully free access to the online world? Would Chinese netizens never have the chance to experience the real Internet, go where they want to, post online anything they want to, and visit any Web site they wish to like all the other Internet users?

I guess, only time would tell.

Some BPO industry analysts have issued an alarm for India’s software outsourcing sector for 2008. The second half of the previous year proved harmful to software developers’ bottom lines mainly due to the rise of the rupee against the US dollar. This year may yet prove worse for India’s software industry as recession fears continue to cause lots of jitters for the American economy.

Still, other observers believe that an economic slowdown in the US could mean an increase in American corporations’ move to outsource their back office operations including IT systems development and maintenance. This could also mean, however, that American clients, who are seeking to reduce further their overall IT costs, would negotiate for lower prices.

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors that can be squeezed to fit in an integrated circuit appears to double about every two years. First formulated by Intel co-founder Gordon E Moore in 1965, this so-called law has stood the test of time and been proved true thanks to a number of advances in manufacturing and miniaturization technologies.

But one factor may yet shake the very foundation of this law. According to some scientists and engineers, properties of copper, which is used to connect the different areas of an integrated circuit, can hinder future efforts to cram more transistors into a microchip. This will in effect limit the processing speeds of future generations of microprocessors, unless, of course, scientists and engineers come up with new fabrication and miniaturization technologies.

This in turn has prompted European scientists to develop optics-based connections within the microchip. By combining semiconductor micro-lasers with silicon wave guides, the researchers have come up with an innovative means of connecting the different areas of the integrated circuits. Optical connections offer a much faster mode of data transmission than copper wires do.

For the meantime, Moore’s Law seems secure.

Despite uncertainties over the US economy, sales of personal computers in the Asia Pacific region (except Japan) reached 66.6 million units in 2007, 20.9 percent higher than the previous year. Data from market research firm International Data Corp. revealed that China-based Lenovo grabbed 18.4 percent of the market, outselling its US rivals Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

Industry analysts, however, are wondering whether the market can sustain growth at this level. Seeing the clouds of uncertainty hanging over the US economy, which is made worse by recession fears, and how in turn the other countries’ economies are nearly panicking, I cannot blame the readers for finding it hard to be optimistic about the future. Nevertheless, let us hope for the best.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.