Sydney, 1 September 2021 — Australian government sector IT spending is forecast to exceed A$15.5 billion in 2022, an increase of 8.8% from 2021, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.

“Government technology spend in Australia is expected to continue upward for the next few years driven by key programs to progress the digital economy, strengthen national cyber response, adopt emerging technologies and address gaps in regulation to cover technology,” said Brian Ferreira, vice president, executive programs at Gartner. “Consultation papers on AI, ethics, technology and human rights, blockchain and other emerging technologies are now firmly on the Government’s radar.”

In 2022, increased investments in digital technologies will see governments in Australia spend 72% of total IT spending on IT services and software to improve responsiveness and resilience of public services (see Table 1). These include investments in enhancing customer and employee experience, strengthening analytical capabilities and scaling operational agility.

Table 1. Government IT Spending Forecast by Segment, 2021-2021, Australia (Millions of Australian Dollars)

Source: Gartner (August 2021)

IT infrastructure and applications modernisation as well as digital government transformation will remain high government priorities in 2022. In Australia, the $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy announced in this year’s Federal Budget aims to support investments in emerging technologies and digital skills to advance Australia’s position as a modern digital economy by 2030.

“As the Delta variant continues to create hurdles, government spending will increase on solutions to open up the Australian economy while we continue to live with COVID-19, particularly to drive vaccination validation, open up borders and unblock trade,” said Ferreira.

Increased Adoption of Cloud Strategies and Citizen Digital Identity

The pandemic has amplified the need for governments to rapidly scale IT infrastructure and application systems and respond to unprecedented public demands. Gartner estimates that by 2025, over 50% of government agencies will have modernised critical core legacy applications to improve resilience and agility.

“Key national technology capabilities, whole-of-government cloud and SaaS procurement agreements and digital skills have progressed at a federal level within Australia,” said Ferreira. “We have also seen a strengthening digital mandate in ministerial roles with cross federal/state collaboration at a state level.”

Gartner clients can get more information in “Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending for the Government and Education Markets, Worldwide, 2019-2025, 2Q21 Update.”

Additional analysis on how government CIOs will reinvent programs and service delivery will be presented during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2021, the world's most important conferences for CIOs and other IT executives. IT executives rely on these conferences to gain insight into how their organisations can use IT to overcome business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Follow news and updates from the conferences on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.

Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo include:

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