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By Suzanna Kerridge, 25 August 2000 00:25

NEWS Europe is leading the way when it comes to implementing the latest technology, according to a report from IDC. Stephen Minton, research manager at IDC claimed the growth in software sales, a thriving IT services market and the adoption of the internet by businesses all contributes to the boom being enjoyed by the European IT market. According to IDC's figures, Sweden is leading the way, closely followed by the UK as both countries spend more of their gross domestic product (GDP) on technology than the US. However Denmark, Norway and Switzerland have the largest IT spending per capita in the world.
Despite these facts, Europe's hardware sales are not so healthy - only 38 per cent of total IT spend went on hardware compared to the US which spent 42 per cent. The UK spent a mere 32 per cent of its total IT spend on hardware. Tony Lewis, executive director at the CSSA, was surprised at the findings. He said: "I find this highly surprising. There was a slow start to 2000 mainly because of the millennium bug but also because many IT directors were unsure of which direction to go in. The general state of the market was pretty slow for the first two quarters so only now are we starting to see growth." However, Lewis warned European growth will struggle to keep ahead of the US, and investment in Europe may conversely bolster the US economy. He said: "Across the software industry, the products are largely American. So, we may be spending the money but we are spending it on US products."