Report: Public Safety IT Market to Reach $21.3 Billion by 2011
Public safety organizations in the United States will spend roughly $21.3 billion on information technology goods and services by 2011. That's the news from a report released yesterday by Compass Intelligence, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based consulting and market analytics firm. By way of comparison, the firm notes that this year the U.S. public safety market (which includes fire, police, and EMT departments) is expected to spend roughly $17.4 billion on IT, including telecom, applications, outsourcing, services/support, network hardware, computer hardware, and IT personnel. This market is expected to experience a slight decline with single-digit annual growth into 2011 and will finally pick up growth in 2011, the firm predicts.
CI says that major growth areas include wireless data, which requires more advanced networks and greater bandwidth. Emergency workers are increasingly using PDAs, laptops, and mobile data terminals and utilizing these devices as a source of access to secure the public and get timely emergency information. "This market represents almost a third of the State & Local Government market and continues to be a hot area for wireless data and next generation broadband," says CI Managing Partner Stephanie Atkinson.
Highlights of the firm's research show that Telecom Services and Equipment is expected to be the largest spending segment by the public safety market, with about 39 percent of the market driven by wireless data and equipment needs. The Applications segment is predicted to be the fastest growing segment and reach $4.4 billion by 2011. The Police segment represents about 74 percent of the public safety market in IT spending, followed by the Fire and EMT segments. For more information, visit www.compassintelligence.com.