European egovernment spending to increase

IDC forecast that egovernment spending in Europe will grow by 13 percent to USD2.8 billion in 2003 (Nov 25, 2002).

According to the research firm, different countries are 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, says IDC, Both countries also lag behind the Nordic countries in their readiness for egovernment.

IDC claims that Western European governments are struggling to trade off budget constraints with the need to improve service sophistication.

However, in order to achieve better online services, public administrations will need to invest in hardware and software applications, supported by service professionals.

The need to invest in online services means that despite cost cutting and budget constraints across the economy, European egovernment spending will experience double digit growth during 2003.

Source:

http://www.idc.com/