This is a compilation of various sources characterising Europe’s current situation and future prospects in IT R&D. Texts in brackets and comments were added by ITBeurope.

Between 1997 and 2000, the market volume of information and communications technology grew world-wide by 50 %, from € 1,343 billion to € 2,012 billion.During the same period, the market volume in Europe grew from € 396 billion to € 576 billion; Europe’s share of the world market for this period remained the same at 29 %.A further rise in market volume of between 6.5 and 7% can be assumed for 2002. The significance and dynamism of the information and communications industry in Western Europe is evident from its share in the gross domestic product (GDP), which rose sharply from 4.6% in 1996 to 6.3% in 2000.Some 37% of the IT budgets of large European companies are being spent on new investments, compared to 30% in North America, according to Forrester Research. In the US, 6.2% of IT budgets are allocated for research and development, compared to 8.5% in Europe. When it comes to the amount of company revenue spent on IT, the figures are closer, with 4.8% spent in Europe and 4.2% North America.
 
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