<p>As the economy improves and at least some of the concerns about the so-called U.S. "fiscal cliff" are resolved, desire for new mobile, analytics, and storage technology will drive information technology spending this year, according to market researchers and economists.</p><p>The first batch of IT spending forecasts for the year are already in, and they look positive relative to the doldrums the tech industry was in during the last six months.Businesses buy tech</p><p>Global IT purchases will increase by 3.3 percent in 2013, in terms of U.S. dollars, to US$2.1 trillion, according to a Forrester report released this week. Because the dollar has been strong relative to other currencies recently, however, a better way to understand IT spending growth is to look at the spending increase in terms of local currencies, according to Andrew Bartels, chief economist at Forrester. In local currency terms, IT spending growth this year will be a relatively healthy 5.4 percent, he noted.</p><p>Next year will be even better, with worldwide spending on IT increasing 6.1 percent in U.S. dollars and 6.7 percent in terms of local currencies, Forrester forecasts.</p><p><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023785/tech-spending-expected-to-escape-the-recent-doldrums.html">Keep reading...</a></p>