Public Sector IT spending to increase
Research from Ovum Holway 18.02.2002

In these times of economic certainty, the public sector is proving to be the land of opportunity for UK IT services companies. The commitment to e-government, and the increased emphasis on widening private sector involvement, is pushing growth of IT services in the public sector by 2.5 times the rate of the rest of the UK's IT services market. With the addition of software, by 2004 this market is predicted to be larger than the equivalent financial services sector according to recent research by Ovum Holway, the analyst and consulting company.

The government has set targets for public sector IT expenditure, putting heavy emphasis on getting government services online by 2005. This means that both local and central government will be putting IT expenditure high on their agenda. At present central government accounts for the lion share of this market, constituting £1,545m of its £3, 395m worth. Ovum Holway forecasts that this market is set to reach 4.75bn by 2004 - an increase of 56%. By 2004 the public sector will account for 22% of the total IT services and software market, ahead of the banking/finance sector and second only to the retail/distribution, services and transport market.