London, November 22, 2002 - eGovernment will drive IT services spending in 2003. Despite cost cutting and budget constraints across the economy, European eGovernment services will grow by 13% to $2.8 billion in 2003.
"In a soft IT market, eGovernment services are growing fast. From broadband to tax returns, this is an opportunity for service providers to transform Europe's public services," said IDC analyst James Weir. "IT service providers cannot afford to miss out."
The opportunity is not uniform across Europe, with different countries displaying different levels of sophistication and readiness for eGovernment. "The UK and Germany have fallen behind Finland, France, Spain and Italy in the sophistication of their eGovernment activities. They are also behind the Nordic countries in their readiness for eGovernment," said Weir.
Western European governments are struggling to trade off budget constraints with the need to improve service sophistication. eGovernment is part of the eEurope strategy that public administrations must implement to:
· Deploy electronic delivery of services
· Create ebusiness platforms for public procurement
· Connect organizations to leverage intra-agency and inter-agency knowledge
To achieve this, public administrations need to invest in hardware and software applications, supported by service professionals in designing, implementing, managing, and updating those solutions.
IDC's study IT Services for eGovernment in Western Europe, 2001-2006 (IDC
#RE03J) forecasts growth in eGovernment-related IT services spending in Western Europe, with a specific focus on the five largest members of the European Union (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK) up to 2006. The study analyzes the main trends in the government sector, and identifies eGovernment as the driving force for IT services spending.
The report also depicts the competitive landscape for IT services vendors. Large IT service vendors with well established customer relationships and global brands will continue to play a major role, and some national strongholds, such as EDS' leadership in the UK, will continue to exist. However, local players such as IT Telecom in Italy and TietoEnator in the Nordics, will grow rapidly both as partners of global companies and as major vendors, particularly in the local government segment.
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For more information, contact:
James Weir
+44 (0) 20 8987 7113
jweir@idc.com
Massimilliano Claps
+39 (0) 228 457337
mclaps@idc.com