At a time when religion is at the center of several wars, causing billions of dollars worth of destruction and recovery, a new study reveals that religion-driven IT will generate more than $40 billion in software and service opportunities by 2017.
Religion is positioned to accelerate IT innovation and growth in emerging markets. The dynamic of IT and religion will create a new industry, generating software and service opportunities, said new Garter study.
"Religion has a great influence on high-growth regions such as Latin America, Africa, the Arab world and South Asia, thus compelling new entrants and incumbent IT providers to seek new opportunities with religious entities," said Asheesh Raina, principal research analyst at Gartner.
The convergence of religion and IT will present completely new ways of doing business and unconventional opportunities for IT entrepreneurs and innovators over an extended period of time. Rise of emerging markets with high religiosity, commercialization of religion, and emergence of new business opportunities around religion are said to be some of the leading forces that compel IT as an industry to embrace religion.
Direct IT spending by religious institutions and groups are small when comparing with the influence of religion on the IT spending of other industries and enterprises.
"Religion-based banking, equity trading, mutual funds, financial services and so forth require new applications, products and heavy software customization, thus creating a role for religion domain experts," Raina said. "The number of people visiting religious places is growing and hence increasing the need for religious bodies to attain automation through IT to provide safe, secure and faster religious services."
The new economic situation has necessitated the need to explore new markets and opportunities. The high religiosity index in emerging markets, IT becoming mainstream, and increased spend on religion due to economic development will all lead to a gradual shift toward religion-driven IT.
Religion-driven IT is becoming a crucial test model for IT providers to gain a larger presence in these markets. In the next five years, the list of emerging markets will include Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Poland, Turkey and Argentina (all with high religiosity), and IT providers' successful execution of this model within the current set of emerging markets is key for a sustainable presence.
