Digital information to grow 5 times by 2012
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 15:43 IST   |    9 Comments
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Orlando: The world digital information world is set to grow by five times in 2012 compared to that in 2008. The world created 3,892,179,868,480,350,000,000 (or almost 4 sextillion) bits of new digital information in 2008, which also translates to about 487 billion gigabytes, or the equivalent of more than 162 trillion digital photos or 4.8 quadrillion online bank transactions, indicates a study by research firm IDC, reported The Times of India. The study says that the amount of digital information created last year grew 73 percent over that in the previous year, and that was faster than even IDC's previous projection. John Gantz, Chief Research Officer for IDC says, "Contrary to popular belief, as the economy deteriorated in late 2008, the pace of digital information created and transmitted over the internet, phone networks and airwaves actually increased." The number of information-generation technologies and interactions are expected to increase dramatically over the next four years. Mobile users are projected to grow three times and 600 million more people are expected to become internet users. Non-traditional IT devices such as wireless meters, automobile navigation systems, industrial machines, RFID readers and intelligent sensor controllers are projected to grow 3.6 times. And interactions between people via email, messaging and social networks, will grow 8 times, says the study. The increased access to broadband communications, electronic patient records, smart electric grids, smart buildings and internet commerce are seen to be the other big growth drivers for digital information. But all this growth is coming at a time when IT budgets are declining.

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