Mumbai: Nearly 75 pct of government IT budgets globally are expected to be flat or increasing in 2013 despite a continuing drive to lower the cost of IT services, research firm Gartner said.

After years of being told to "do more with less," many government CIOs said budgets have stabilized or are increasing, placing them in a better position to deliver and manage IT services more effectively and efficiently, according to Gartner Executive Programs 2013 CIO Agenda survey.

"These CIOs are now poised to boost the business value of IT by radically restructuring their services portfolio to drive innovation and improve the performance of government," Gartner Research Director Rick Howard said.

The findings are in contrast to private sector, which is significant as management practices, financial indicators, business metrics and the adoption of IT in government generally lag behind those of the private sector, he added.

Gartner has projected a modest compound annual growth rate of 1.3 percent for IT spending in the government and education sectors through to the end of 2017, with increased spending for IT services, software and data centres.

These increases are offset by reductions in internal technology services, devices and telecom services.

The annual survey was conducted worldwide with 1,959 CIOs from across industries in the fourth quarter of 2012. It included 398 public-sector CIOs from all tiers of government around the globe.

CIOs in government indicated that reducing overall business costs is now more important than reducing IT costs alone, which will permit government CIOs to accelerate enterprise-scale initiatives.

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