Gartner’s predictions for the next 4 – 5 years were that growth in this sector would continue at an annual rate of 3 – 4 percent, and that much of that growth would be driven by activity in the cloud, big data and mobility spheres.


In terms of regional markets, The Economist pointed to the fact that technology is having a bigger effect on Africa than anywhere else, because it started from such a low base. In the past decade the use of telephones went from 0.7 percent of the population when land lines were unreliable to 70 percent with the advent of mobile phones. Africa is also a global pioneer in banking on mobile devices, not least since most people have no access to conventional banking.


Construction


In Europe, the impact of economic uncertainty on business and consumer confidence is reflected in the market for new housing and commercial property. Euroconstuct (the European Construction Business Research and Forecasting Group) points to the European sovereign debt crisis as a contributory factor for its downgrading of its construction forecasts for its member countries (almost all Western European countries as well as a number of Eastern European countries) to no overall growth until 2014. Construction forecasts were downgraded from -0.3 percent to -2.1percent in 2012, and +1.8 percent to +0.4 percent in 2013 Euroconstruct also anticipated a north/south pattern to projected construction performance over the next few years, with northern European countries outperforming their southern counterparts.


A far healthier picture of the construction industry is seen in the US. The Financial Times (October 12) noted that the US housing market is in an upwards cycle, driven by a combination of improving house prices, a lower inventory of homes for sale, rising rates of household formation and population growth, and improving access to mortgage credit.


The Dodge Construction Outlook predicts that total US construction starts for 2013 will rise by 6 percent to $483.7 billion, slightly higher than the 5 percent increase to $458 billion estimated for 2012. But this still leaves the volume of total construction starts 32 percent below the 2005 peak on a current dollar basis, and down about 50 percent when viewed on a constant dollar basis.


Once more, the greatest growth is to be found in the BRICS nations. For example, according to the Accenture report: Achieving High Performance in the Construction Industry, Chinese construction companies outpaced the overall industry in the past three years and registered double-digit revenue growth over the past five years, buoyed up by the sheer scale of internal demand. Much of this astounding expansion has been driven by public funding of infrastructure and real estate.


Reed Exhibitions | EIBTM Trends Watch Report 2012 10


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