European Firms Slow on Technology Uptake

Western Europe is falling even further behind the US in its application of information technology as US companies spend more than their European counterparts.

A recent study, conducted by the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO), predicted that growth in Western European IT and telecommunications markets will lag well behind expansion in the US, Asia and Latin America in 1997.

While Western Europe?s IT market is expected to grow by 7.1 per cent this year, the US industry will enjoy a more healthy 9.2 per cent. The report estimated that the telecoms market in Western Europe will grow by 7.3 per cent.

Commenting on the widening technology gap, Gerhard Schulmeyer, chief executive at Siemens Nixdorf, said the relatively slow adoption of IT in the region was, ?a serious issue for Europe?.

He warned that labour laws, such as those in Germany, were responsible for slowing down investment processes.

According to Bruno Lamborghini, chairman of EITO, Europeans spend far less per head than North Americans on IT and telecoms services. In 1996 Europeans spent an average of $936 a head compared with $1,598 in the US.