European banks warm to knowledge management

Spending on knowledge management by European banks is set to increase by almost 40 per cent over the next four years according to research company IDC.

At present only 20 per cent of European banks are using knowledge management (KM) at a cost of $155m but this will rise to over $511m by 2004. KM products are used mainly to allow account holders to obtain more information from their banks. Raffaella Molignani, a research analyst for IDC's banking programme, said in a statement: "Implementing a KM system is not solely a technology issue. "A key element of the offering for KM solutions is the ability to support organisational and cultural changes." At present KM spending is concentrated in just six European countries, which make up 80 per cent of the total. The fastest growth is expected to be in France, Sweden and the Netherlands, while Germany and the UK will record the highest levels of spending. By Geoffrey Davies