The mining sector’s continual growth is producing significant flow-on benefits for the country’s information and communication technology sector, according to a new report released by IDC.

 

According to the Resources ICT Market Forecast and Analysis 2011 to 2015 report, resource sector spending on ICT topped $2.51 billion in the 2011-12 financial year, representing 6 per cent of the ICT sector’s total activity.

 

"The resource industry has been growing rapidly over the past few years and, despite the uncertain global outlook, it looks set to continue its growth. However, this brings new challenges, such as escalating costs, which companies are increasingly looking to technology to offset," says Emilie Ditton, research manager, Vertical Markets.

 

And the future looks bright for the ICT sector’s profitability in the resources sector, with Ms Ditton saying that related profits are only expected to increase.

 

"IDC predicts Australian resources spending on ICT will increase from A$2,421.7 million in 2010 to A$2,911.5 million, realising an above-average CAGR of 3.8% between 2010 and 2015. Opportunities for IT vendors in the resource sector will be in supporting the drive for productivity and organisational effectiveness, and specifically on the deployment of mobile applications, remote application delivery, business intelligence/predictive analytics, and cloud computing."

 

The full report can be bought here