The technology sector can expect to grow next year, says IDC.

Parcel delivery and courier services firms are likely to be among those businesses helping to drive the technology sector next year.

Among the key transformative technologies that are moving into the mainstream are social media, cloud services and a move away from desktop PCs to mobile devices, according to research firm IDC.

The company expects to see total global IT spending to increase by nearly six per cent next year, with mobile and social technologies helping to drive this.

Senior vice-president and chief analyst at IDC Frank Gens said: "What really distinguishes the year ahead is that these disruptive technologies are finally being integrated with each other – cloud with mobile, mobile with social networking, social networking with big data and real-time analytics."

According to a report from Ofcom, the UK is already ditching desktop PCs in favour of mobile devices.

Britain is the only country where laptops are the most popular devices used to surf the internet at home, while the UK also saw the highest growth in smartphone uptake in the last year.

Posted by Lucy Pritchard

Article Added: 07/12/2010 09:15:56