Investments
in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector are anticipated to
boost the four core healthcare markets of Middle East and Africa over five
years, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Latest
study made available to NaijaAgroNet
by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on Information Technology (IT)
services and products among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia, South Africa,
Turkey, and the United Arab Emirate (UAE) will grow by 70 per cent over the
next five years, expanding at 11.2 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over
the five-year period from 2013 to 2018.
NaijaAgroNet also gathered that spending
priorities based on the study by IDC will be strongly driven by healthcare
policy mandates and efficiency improvement needs.
In
the context of a pronounced shortage of IT expertise among healthcare
organizations, NaijaAgroNet reports that IDC Health Insights expects the demand for IT services to
continue to rise in all four markets. In fact, IT services will be the fastest
growing segment of the healthcare providers' market, with particularly intense
growth projected in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Additional
highlights from the data showed that spending on mobile devices and networking
equipment will contribute significantly to overall hardware spending growth in
all four markets.
In
the software segment, NaijaAgroNet
reports that system infrastructure software still accounts for the largest
share of total external IT spending.
While
clinical information systems, NaijaAgroNet
gathered, makes up the smallest share but will post the fastest growth at 13.5
per cent annually.
Nino
Giguashvili, senior research analyst for IDC Health Insights, confided in NaijaAgroNet that all the four
markets are set to grow at an impressive rate, stressing "While these
markets present exceptional opportunities to healthcare IT suppliers across the
whole ecosystem, it is the right time to focus on mobile solutions to
healthcare providers' organizational needs, and MEA's healthcare challenges
overall."
The
study further gathered by NaijaAgroNet
indicates IDC's Middle East and Africa Healthcare Provider 2013 IT spending and
2014–2018 Forecast provides IT spending data and forecasts for 15 technologies
and five countries (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab
Emirates).
Anulekha
Shetty of the Public Relations told NaijaAgroNet
that the study has been designed to help IT suppliers identify short and
long-term opportunities and for health providers to assess the state of the
market.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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