• Tough business competition underpins ICT spending which is expected to hit the RM10 billion mark in 2013
• High demand and spending means more IT talents are needed to build, create and innovate

Malaysia's ICT industry is moving fast and in this case surpassing expectations. Next year, the country's information and communications technology (ICT) spending is expected to hit the RM10 billion mark. According to research, this industry growth is caused by the hyper-competing for growth, speed and economics among businesses in Malaysia.

In terms of ICT spending is forecasted to reach 7.6 percent growth next year from over RM9 billion this year, contributed by various segments such as hardware, software and services.

"In an era of hyper-competing, there will be changes, which will create a stronger ICT spending for Malaysia," said Roger Ling, research manager of IDC Asia-Pacific Asean Services Research Group.

Ling said factors contributing to ICT spending growth were the rebound of telecommunication services, reaping on returns from premium content delivery and cloud services.

"Telecommunications equipment is set for high year-on-year growth hitting 19.7 percent next year. Enterprise networks will reach 18.6 percent, service provider equipment 9.3 percent and smartphones a whopping 34.6 percent in terms of year-on-year growth," Ling added.