8. ICT expenditure

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ICT expenditure per Capita. Source: European Information Technology Observatory, 2006

An important benchmark in tracking Ireland’s productivity and our competitiveness is how much we’re investing in information and communications technologies (ICTs).

The answer is €1,595 per capita. That puts us ahead of the EU15 (€1,534) but behind the per capita spend of the US (€1,966) and the UK (€2,000).

There is a significant gulf between the Irish number and those of the best performers – Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark which all top €2,400.

The latter two are frequently at or near the top of other pan-European comparative studies, such as those which track broadband adoption and online public services.

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