KEY POINTS:
New Zealand will see 11,000 new Information Technology jobs and 300 new IT companies in the next four years, a recent study found.
Internationally, 7.1 million new jobs and 100,000 companies will be created from increased spending in the IT sector.
The study was conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) and commissioned by Microsoft.
IDC's chief research officer John Gantz said technology was a key factor for economic, social and technological progress and for the sustainability of economies.
The study expects IT spending to hit $5.4 billion in 2007 and grow 4.3 per cent a year between now and 2011.
Most of this IT spending would be on software. While NZ consumers spending on packaged software accounts for 13 per cent of total IT spending, around 52 per cent of employment in the IT sector would be software-related.
"Software drives activity in the services and distribution sectors, as well as in organisations using IT . "The IDC research underscores what we've always known to be true, that software provides a disproportionate contribution to a vibrant IT economy," Mr Gantz said.
Over the next four years NZ's IT industry will drive $2.6 billion in new incremental tax revenues and contribute revenue of $2.8 billion to GDP, the study found.
- NZPA
