Govt IT spending to hit $9.5 billion in 2013: Gartner

Australia is set to buck the trend in government IT spending this year according to Gartner. Australian government agency spending at local, state and federal levels is set to grow by 2.2 per cent, the analyst firm predicted in a report issued today.

This contrasts to a decrease of 0.1 per cent in worldwide government IT spending, to US$449.5.

Australian government IT spending will hit $9.5 billion this year, and reach $10.7 billion within four years. The 2013 growth is mainly driven by software spending, Gartner said.

The analyst firm’s survey revealed the growing interest in cloud services and mobility within the government sector. Thirty to fifty per cent of organisations surveyed were either planning for or already had an active IT services contract.

Over half of the respondents had some form of BYOD in place, with employees allowed to bring a laptop, smartphone or tablet to work.