The South African government`s annual ICT spend has increased to between R8 billion and R10 billion per annum, despite the negative trends in the global IT industry. This emerged in Forge Ahead BMI-T`s latest report on the state of ICT in government.
Speaking at the launch of the ICT in Government Handbook 2001 today, Brian Nielson, joint-MD of Forge Ahead BMI-T, said that as a vertical market niche, State spending tends to be fairly independent of general market trends.
Nielson said several major projects are in the pipeline, including the government`s Gauteng Online schools project and the Cape Town Smart City project.
BMI-T`s research also found that government spend with black economic empowerment (BEE) companies is not showing significant growth. One reason for this may be the lack of capacity in many BEE companies to tackle the biggest contracts.
Simon White, joint-MD of Forge Ahead BMI-T, said a lack of infrastructure and capacity may be forcing BEE companies to operate below the "glass ceiling" of projects worth less than R20 million to R35 million. A major problem, he noted, is a lack of a clear government strategy on "fronting".
[VIDEO]"Action needs to be taken against fronting. This problem is haemorrhaging the whole BEE initiative."
The handbook also looks at the State`s transition to e-government. BMI-T research analyst Willi Faling said the transition to e-government is being hampered by an apparent lack of understanding of the nature of e-government.
The Forge Ahead BMI-T ICT in Government Handbook 2001 is the fourth of its kind and part of ongoing research by BMI-T into ICT in government. The latest issue has been published in partnership with the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) and includes reports on the status of IT in various levels of government, information on projects and major tenders for the coming year, and the issue of IT skills in SA.
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