Power Utilities in Europe, Middle East and Africa to Spend $17.5 Billion on IT in 2013

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Power utilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will spend more than $17.5 billion on information technology (IT) in 2013. This is one of the top 10 predictions made by IDC Energy Insights (Framingham, Massachusetts).

The No. 1 and 2 predictions are that flexibility will be the "new normal" for smart-grid implementation, and regulatory procrastinations will hold back EMEA's electricity smart-metering market.

Consumer engagement will be the name of the game, and smart-water spending will be kick-started in 2013. Public funding will back smart cities, and chief information officers (CIOs) will need resources capable of transforming operations.

Boosted by apps, mobile fever will hit utilities, and 2013 will see utilities embrace analytics to make sense of their "big data."

"Utilities are under pressure across the EMEA region," said Roberta Bigliani, head of EMEA, IDC Energy Insights. "Economic downturn in many European countries, more difficult conditions on capital and borrowing markets, and--most importantly--uncertainty about medium- and long-term return on investments are slowing down the smart-energy transition. Nevertheless, renewable sources and distributed generation continue to develop, as well as investment in grids. We expect, for instance, that IT spending on network automation and control in EMEA will grow about 8% in 2013.

"Flexibility will be the new normal for utilities, and smart technologies are the cornerstone of the transformation across the entire value chain. Utilities will invest in analytics, mobility and cyber security. CIOs will consider alternative sourcing models to enable business agility and reduce IT investments. Different IT skill sets will be needed. Lack of a clear leadership and governance in the integration of OT [operation technology]/IT could undermine innovation."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.