IT and telecom executives: business is looking up

By EgovAsia Editors | Oct 13, 2009

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Senior executives in the IT and telecoms sectors are expecting a marked recovery over the next six months, according to the latest Tech Sector Barometer, a bi-annual survey published today by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Nearly three out of five of those surveyed say they expect demand conditions to improve over the next six months. This reflects a sharp reversal in sentiment from the first quarter of this year when just one in five expressed optimism. Only 9% of those surveyed now expect demand to deteriorate, as opposed to 47% in the first quarter.

The survey, Looking Up, also shows a sharp regional split. Asian executives show the most confidence globally. Europeans show the least. This finding reflects the Economist Intelligence Unit's global economic outlook, which forecasts world GDP growth of 2% next year, but an expansion in Asia of 3.7% compared to just 0.5% growth in Western Europe.

Although nearly every indicator in the survey has turned positive, the Economist Intelligence Unit expects the recovery for the IT and telecoms sectors to be a long, hard slog. "While confidence has bounced back, it takes more than confidence to build a solid recovery," commented Carla Rapoport, Director, Industry Briefing, at the EIU. "The most encouraging sign in this survey is that R&D spending is picking up again."