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Eastern European countries: levels of investment in IT and telecommunications Information from the European IT Observatory 1999 report This free of charge service is made possible by our sponsors: Eastern European countries: levels of investment in IT and telecommunications Information from the European IT Observatory 1999 report The European IT Observatory 1999 edition carries a detailed report showing the results of a survey of IT and telecommunications (ICTs) investment, use and policies in Eastern European countries. The graphs below show two examples of the data from this survey. The complete report (50 pages) includes a wealth of charts and tables addressing many other aspects of the Eastern European markets. Countries covered by the survey include Russia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The EITO report (430 pages) also includes an equivalent survey of Mediterranean region countries and a survey of E-commerce use and plans by EU countries, as well as detailed tables of ICT use and forecasts for EU countries, USA and Japan, and world totals. Ordering information is at http://www.eto.org.uk/eito. In these charts, we have shown, for comparison purposes, the average levels for Western Europe and the levels for Greece - the country with the lowest levels in the European Union. 1. Absolute levels of investment: IT per capita The first chart shows absolute levels of investment, ie IT spend per capita. This is a good basic way of assessing a country's existing preparedness for the Information Society and the global networked economy. As might be expected, all the Eastern European countries surveyed are well below the average for Western Europe, but two countries - Slovenia and the Czech Republic have a higher level of investment than Greece. Overall, the level of existing investment in Eastern European countries is less than one quarter that of the West. Note: Click on the image or here for the full size chart. 2. Investment relative to national wealth: IT as % of GDP The second chart shows relative rates of investment - IT spend as a percentage of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This shows a quite different pattern, reflecting intensive efforts by Eastern Europe countries to catch up with the West in their ICT investment. Estonia and the Czech Republic are investing at a rate higher than the Western European average, with Slovakia and Hungary also investing at close to the Western rate. Six out of the seven countries surveyed show a higher spend rate than Greece. Note: Click on the image or here for the full size chart. Seventh edition of the EITO Report Since 1993, the European IT Observatory has provided a low-cost, high-consistency source for market data about the IT and telecommunications markets. European Telework Online is proud to be associated with the EITO programme and as a primary online source for world-wide ordering of the report. The low cost of EITO is achieved through sponsorship by the European Commission, European Telework Development and Europe's main industry exhibitions, together with voluntary efforts by the industry to validate the commisisioned surveys and reports. The EITO Reports can be ordered online from European Telework Online.