Central government growth will be fuelled by continued demand for IT to support administrative and tax and revenue collection and management functions

MILAN, Italy, February 5, 2010 – Global independent research and advisory firm, IDC Government Insights, recently published a new research study which describes IT spending and market-sizing forecast for the Western Europe government sector for 2008–2013.

"Total government spending for hardware, software, and IT services in Western Europe will increase from $56.6 billion in 2008 to $68.5 billion in 2013. IT suppliers who want to capture a share of that growth must take pains to ensure that their service offerings address the need for modern infrastructures and application capabilities, streamlined processes, and a demonstration of cost containment or, even better, cost reduction," said Jan A. Duffy, research director, European Government Technology Decision Support, IDC Government Insights EMEA.

Although the recession is causing concern vis a vis increases in government social costs and decreases in tax revenues, spending on IT remains relatively stable at this point. The pressure to right size government is likely to become a political issue in some Western European countries, the U.K. for example, and this could result in increased interest in IT as a way to compensate for fewer staff. Although there could be a shift in how money is being spent and growth may be relatively slow, we are unlikely to see a significant slowdown in IT spending in the next few years.

Key forecast figures from this IDC Government research study include the following:

• At this point, government IT spending is generally more resilient than some other sectors. The effects of the economic downturn are expected to continue through 2010 in Western Europe, easing as the impact of fiscal and monetary stimulus packages becomes more evident. Despite the recessionary trends, IDC Government Insights expects government sector IT spending to remain resilient through the forecast period, achieving a 3.9% CAGR and reaching $58.6 billion in 2010. In comparison with other vertical industries, government is second only to health in the forecast period.
• IT services continues to increase its share of IT government spending. Looking across the three main technology groups (hardware, software, services), hardware spending will suffer a decline in 2010, experience a correction in 2011, but then remain relatively flat through 2013; software spending will experience a small increase in 2010, remaining flat in 2011; IT services spend will increase gradually through 2013.
• Public administration and other compulsory activities represent the largest IT spending by central government. As governments make every effort to move the majority of citizen services to an online delivery model, investment across a wide variety of departments, functions, and systems will be required.
• Amongst the top five economies in Western Europe, the UK is the highest spender in 2010. As a group, the Big 5 Western European economies will represent some $36.8 billion in IT spending in 2010. The U.K. is the highest spender, Germany is next, followed by France, Italy, and then Spain.

Although the forecast growth in the government sector has been affected by the economic crisis, it is still a relatively stable and growing market with some healthy growth in specific submarkets.

This IDC Government Insights report, Business Strategy: Western European Government Sector IT Spending Forecast 2008–2013 (IDC Doc#GIPP01R9, January 2010), by Jan Duffy and Silvia Piai, presents IT spending forecasts for central and local governments in Western Europe. The report provides valuable insight, prescription, and prediction derived from demand-side and supply-side data, as well as analyst insight. This IDC Government Insights forecast addresses the size of the government sector IT opportunity in the various jurisdictions and regions in Western Europe; the report also speaks to what vendors can expect from the Western Europe government sector market in 2010–2013. The analysis is arranged by major technology and sub-sector, and includes a brief overview of the markets in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.

This report is available for purchase at http://www.idc-gi.com/. For media enquiries or more information on how to get a copy of this report, please contact: Cinzia Rinelli at +39 02 28457 367 or crinelli@idc.com

About IDC Government Insights

IDC Government Insights is headquartered in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area in Falls Church, Virginia, with additional offices worldwide. IDC Government Insights is uniquely qualified to track, analyze, and forecast government technology spending based on in-depth government budget and spending analysis globally. Expert analysts examine IT value based on government-defined key result areas; decipher policy and regulatory goals to identify game-changing government strategies and inform critical decision making; survey government decision-makers to determine effectiveness of IT vendors’ go-to-market strategies; along with government-centric metrics and rankings of suppliers’ effectiveness in addressing specific government business problems, all with absolute independence and transparency. IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-gi.com, email info@idc-gi.com.

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