Patrick Releases IT Industry Study

The state's information technology industry is strong and growing, according to a study released by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute and Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday.

IT is the state's second largest "knowledge-intensive" industry behind health care, the report found, with more than 10,300 firms and 178,000 workers in the state.

The industry expended $65 billion in 2008 in the state, making up 18 percent of the state's GDP.

Venture capital investments in the IT field in Massachusetts are second in the nation behind only California, with $10,257 in investments per worker, according to the report.

Between 2006 and 2008, half of all venture capital dollars in the state went to IT firms, the report said.

Patrick released the report, titled "The IT Industry: Hub of the Massachusetts Technology Economy," during a meeting with IT leaders at the Communispace Corp. in Watertown on Monday.

The report follows up on Patrick creating an IT Collaborative in January, which focuses on advancing policy to support the sector's competitiveness. Part of the collaborative was to study the current state of the IT industry.