Global IT spending is projected to reach $5.1 trillion in 2024, an increase of 8 per cent from 2023, according to a new report. While generative AI (GenAI) has not yet had a material impact on IT spending, investment in AI more broadly is supporting overall IT spending growth, according to Gartner. “In 2023 and 2024, very little IT spending will be tied to GenAI. However, organisations are continuing to invest in AI and automation to increase operational efficiency and bridge IT talent gaps,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst. The hype around GenAI is supporting this trend, as CIOs recognise that today’s AI projects will be instrumental in developing an AI strategy and story before GenAI becomes part of their IT budgets starting in 2025, he added. The software and IT services segments will both see double-digit growth in 2024, largely driven by cloud spending. Global spending on public cloud services is forecast to increase 20.4 per cent in 2024, and similarly to 2023, the source of growth will be combination of cloud vendor price increases and increased utilisation. While inflation’s effect on both consumers and businesses plagued the devices market throughout 2022 and 2023, devices spending will begin to rebound modestly in 2024, growing 4.8 per cent. “AI has created a new security scare for organisations,” said Lovelock. CIOs are experiencing change fatigue, which is often manifesting as a hesitation to invest in new projects and initiatives. This is pushing a portion of 2023’s IT spending into 2024, a trend that is expected to continue into 2025, said the report.
The Supreme Court has ordered immediate release of a prisoner who was granted bail from a future date by the Patna High Court.
A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal said that it is “surprising” that the High Court has stated that the accused will be released on bail but only after completing 15 months in custody though the impugned order records a clear finding that he is entitled to be released on bail.
“The petitioner shall be immediately enlarged on temporary bail on the terms and conditions incorporated in .. the impugned order (except the condition that the petitioner shall be enlarged on bail only after completing 15 months),” the bench ordered on Thursday as an interim measure.
In its impugned order passed in August this year, a bench of Justice Sandeep Kumar of the Patna High Court had said that the petitioner “be released on bail on completing 15 months in custody and on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.10,000/- (Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive special Judge.”
Rakesh Paswan, the accused, was booked in 2021 under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 and the Arms Act.