Ingenieur Vol 58 April-June 2014 Ingenieur Vol 58 April-June 2014 | Page 64

INGENIEUR plan for the future, a strong IT component is essential to any forward thinking strategy. According to International Data Corp (IDC), global IT spending on hardware, software and IT services reached US$2 trillion in 2013 alone, while ICT spending, including telecom services, increased by 4.8 % to US$3.6 trillion. In an even more impressive estimate, IDC charts the IT industry on a path to US$5 trillion by the year 2020. While countries like the U.S. and UK are ahead of the game, IT market proportions have gradually shifted due to the emergence of rapidly growing markets in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Asia accounted for 29% of total worldwide IT revenue in 2013. Malaysia, for example, is a strong IT market. The coastal nation’s long history of technology advancement and investment was aided in part by the establishment of Multimedia 6 62 VOL 58 APRIL 2013 2014 VOL 55 JUNE – JUNE Super Corridor (MSC), a special economic zone in Malaysia, which put the country on the path to a knowledge-based society. Government, business and educational entities in Malaysia continuously invest in new technology to stay competitive. A Wide Open Employment Field According to global marketing research reports provided to 1,254 international businesses and IT executives, and the 2013 International Technology Adoption and Workforce Issues report published by Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the top 10 rated IT skills in terms of importance to business globally are Networks/Infrastructure, Database/Information management, Server/Data Centre Management, Storage/ Data Backup, Help Desk/ IT Support, Data Analytics/ Business Intelligence, Printers/ Multifunction Devices, Security/ Cyber security, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Web Design/Development. IT o