IT spending by governments in the Middle East and Africa during 2011 will increase by 10.7% on last year, predicted research firm IDC on Wednesday.
The company said that 2010 investment stood at $5.35 billion, so based on IDC's expectations, MEA IT spending should near $6 billion this year.
"Information and communication technology (ICT) will be increasingly recognised as a key driver of economic growth and productivity across the Middle East and Africa," said Mukesh Chulani, senior research analyst at IDC, who commented that regional governments also see the sector as a way of "supporting innovation through more efficient utilisation of capitol and labour".
Also driving the deployment of e-government is the need to encourage greater trust and confidence in the public sector, and revamp "outmoded regulatory regimes," he said in a research note.
Chulani explained that the rollout and uptake of new e-government services will be primarily driven by the ongoing deployment of new network infrastructure.
"Plans are in place to lay an additional 60,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable in the region over the next 18 months as part of $2.5 billion-worth of investment aimed at developing world-class telecommunications networks," he said, commenting that a lack of adequate infrastructure has until now been a barrier to the provision of ICT services by the public sector.
"[New networks] will undoubtedly help alleviate any internal resistance when deploying e-government services to residents," he added.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nick Wood
Quelle/Source: Total Telecom, 16.03.2011
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