Within Western Europe, the UK market is currently seeing a major shift towards the software and services model, at a speed which is outstripping even the rest of Europe, and by 2004 the UK services market will be the largest market for IT services in Western Europe, ahead of Germany, a remarkable fact given the relative sizes of the economies and overall IT markets. The UK is moving rapidly, driven by terrific enthusiasm for the Internet at all levels of business, towards the service-driven market. The UK has the third largest proportion of GDP spent on IT in the world. The other Nordic countries, and also Switzerland, rank high in terms of IT spend per capita. It is now commonly accepted knowledge that the Nordic region has emerged in the past few years as a hotbed of technology adoption and usage.
Digital television is an area where the UK is proving innovative and experiencing strong growth.
This is a period of global boom, and IT spending growth is currently strong across every region. Europe, however, occupies an increasingly important strategic focus for global IT suppliers. More importantly, in the context of the increasing importance of globalisation, Europe is a key market which is central to a successful global strategy. Copyright IDC, 2001. Unauthorized use is strictly forbidden.