ELECTRONIC COMMERCE SET TO BOOST SOFTWARE MARKET

The development of electronic commerce will generate strong demand for specialised software over the coming years, according to a study published on July 6 by the British analysts Datamonitor. Software sales in Western Europe are set to increase by 41% by 2002 to be worth 285 million dollars, according to Datamonitor. These forecasts of strong growth are due in part to the fact that much of the computer hardware needed to establish electronic trading already exists, whereas the software sector is still developing.

The study predicts that Germany and the United Kingdom, which already lead the way, will account for 43% of the European market...