According to the latest outlook by Gartner, global IT spending is forecast to climb 5.6% to $3.6trn in 2011 from $3.4trn last year. Gartner, which added media tablets to its computing hardware spending estimates beginning this quarter, said that media tablets increased its computing hardware growth outlook from 7.5% to 9.5% for 2011. Worldwide media tablet spending is projected to reach $29.4bn in 2011, up from $9.6bn in 2010. Global spending on media tablets is forecast to increase at an annual average rate of 52% through 2015, the IT research and advisory firm said.

GlobalFoundries, 86%-owned by Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Co, plans to double its capital expenditure to $5bn in 2011, as it expands its semiconductor business, Reuters has reported. "This year, Global Foundries will be spending $5bn, which is 120% of its revenues. We are investing in our future," Ibrahim Ajami, CEO of Atic said.

IDC forecasts IT spending by the Middle East and Africa (MEA) government sector, which totalled $5.35bn in 2010, to see double-digit growth this year and expects the rollout of regional fibre-optic networks to stimulate the deployment of technology services. "Much of the interest in ICT regionally is linked to its potential for raising productivity and supporting innovation through more efficient utilization of capital and labour," Mukesh Chulani, senior research analyst for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at IDC Government Insights, said. The additional 60,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable in the region over the next 18 months will undoubtedly help alleviate any internal resistance when deploying e-Government services to residents, Chulani said.

Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Co (Atic) has developed an "international work assignment" programme to recruit 40 UAE nationals for training at Globalfoundries' microprocessor factories abroad in preparation for the opening of a foundry in the emirate in 2015, The National has reported. "We need a few. We don't need too many," Sami Issa, an executive director at Atic said. "But it's important to have a senior [group] of Emiratis in the factory to act as a role model for the younger ones."