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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alan Fogg,
Director of Communications
afogg@fceda.org, 703-790-0600
First Major IT World Study Sponsored by the FCEDA
Report Documents IT Marketplace Nearing $2 Trillion
Fairfax County, Virginia, October 8, 1998 — The first major study of global information technology spending and economic impact documents an industry valued at almost $2 trillion and growing at a rate over 20 percent faster than worldwide gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, a leading sponsor of the study. The report was produced for the Fairfax County-based IT association WITSA — the World Information Technology and Services Alliance.
"Digital Planet: The Global Information Economy" provides the first systematic exploration of the size and shape of the information and communication technology marketplace around the globe. The study is based on data gathered in the 50 largest country markets as well as four regional components. In aggregate, this group represents 98 percent of worldwide IT spending and 97 percent of global GDP.
The results of the study confirm the importance of Fairfax County becoming a leading center of information technology. The nearly 2,000 technology companies in the County are on the cutting edge in developing new technologies in aerospace, software development, systems integration, telecommunications and the Internet. "This important study illustrates how crucial the information technology industry is to the global economy as well as to local economies," said Gerald L. Gordon, President of the FCEDA. "Leading IT communities around the world are pursuing this multi-billion dollar industry with great fervor. IT represents the business of the future and communities realize that the most vital economies of the next millennium will be predominately led by IT businesses."
WITSA President Harris Miller adds, "This study presents the hard data needed to support conclusions we have long suspected. Information technology is a huge global marketplace — at $1.83 trillion one of the top industries worldwide. The WITSA study shows that the 'information economy' is not a vague abstraction but a powerful economic force, contributing $1.8 trillion, or 8 percent of global GDP to the world economy."
Among the highlights in the report are:
At year-end 1997, 118 million personal computers had been installed in homes and educational institutions worldwide—up from 35 million in 1992. Report author IDC forecasts World Wide Web utilization to hit 100 million people by the end of this year and 320 million by 2002. The study also shows that more people than ever before have the potential to reach the Internet, with 2.4 billion individuals having better than a 90 percent chance of having a household telephone.
The U.S. spent $642.7 billion on IT in 1997, twice as much as Japan at $316.7 billion. Together, the U.S. and Japan represent over 53 percent of the world marketplace. Other "top five spenders" are Germany, the United Kingdom and France. The top five IT spenders in Asia-Pacific are Japan, Australia, the People's Republic of China, Korea and Taiwan.
"Digital Planet: The Global Information Economy" is sponsored by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, NASDAQ, Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology and the Japanese Information Services Industry Association. Copies of the report are available to the public and can be order from the WITSA Web site at www.itaa.org. An executive summary is available on the same website without charge.
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority provides services and information designed to promote Fairfax County as a business location for domestic and international companies and organizations. The FCEDA assists businesses by identifying possible sites and facilities and is a source for up-to-date demographic and economic statistics. For more information, visit the FCEDA's Web page at www.FairfaxCountyEDA.
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