SILICON VALLEY: Worldwide spending on information technology, especially in the United States will slow "significantly" in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, a leading IT market intelligence firm has forecast.

Worldwide IT spending will grow 2.6 per cent year over year in 2009, down from the pre-crisis forecast of 5.9 per cent growth, according to a newly revised forecast from IDC.

In the United States, IT spending growth is expected to be 0.9 per cent in 2009, much lower than the 4.2 per cent growth forecast in August.

"Although all the economic forecasts went from up slightly to down drastically in a matter of days, the good news is that IT is in a better position than ever to resist the downward pull of a slowing economy," said John Gantz, chief research officer at the IDC.