Dive Brief:
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An IT spending forecast released Friday predicts that the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union last week will affect IT spending globally.
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The forecast, conducted by Gartner Inc., predicts U.K.' tech spending will move into negative territory well into 2017.
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Gartner originally predicted U.K. tech spending to rise by 1.7% this year, for a total of about U.S. $179.6 billion.
Dive Insight:
Gartner analyst John Lovelock said the slowdown in U.K. tech spending would be attributed to the overall uncertainty created by the Brexit vote. As the U.K. prepared to elect a new leader and faces at least 24 months of negotiations with the EU over the stipulations of the exit, spending on tech will cool considerably.
Brexit will also affect global IT spending, Gartner predicts. The analyst firm had forecast $3.4 trillion in global IT spending for 2016, up 1.5%. Gartner has now adjusted that, predicting that global IT spending will be above a 1.2% increase in 2016.
Tech spending has been cooling in the U.S. as well. Last month, Forrester Inc. said it expects the pace of U.S. technology spending to grow just 4.3% this year, compared to 4.8% last year.
