A small Welsh software company is looking forward to a bumper year after winning three prestigious internet awards in the USA.

Newport-based Ubiquity Software is fast becoming a leader in internet and telecoms technology.

But similar Welsh success stories tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

There is evidence that many Welsh firms are being left behind in the information technology revolution.

Ubiquity Software will probably never be a household name, but their product could have profound signifigance in the development of the internet and the telephone.

The "Helmsman" server provides all the call-handling capacity you might find in a big commercial call centre for a fraction of the cost.

Out goes expensive hardware like switchboards and internal exchanges - with "Helmsman" everything can be done over the internet on a basic personal computer.

The potential of the cutting-edge product has not been lost on experts in the USA.

Two specialist magazines have named Helmsman "Product of the Year" and it won the top prize at a recent trade show in California.

Efforts redoubled

Not suprisingly Ubiuity is now one of Wales' star IT companies - but that is a firmament, however, that is not exactly overcrowded.

There is still much to be done to make sure firms embrace the new technology.

A recent survey shows that fewer than half of all Welsh businesses are using e-mail or the internet - let alone cutting edge products like Ubiquity's.

And for smaller firms the figure sinks to just eight per cent.

This year is likely to see the National Assembly's efforts to create a "knowledge-based economy" redoubled.

If an innovation like "Helmsman" can make big call centres a thing of the past it will have serious implications for jobs in Wales.