National and international education institutions and regulatory bodies are working not only to improve the quality of education, but also the level of integration among various countries to facilitate sharing of knowledge and mobility of skilled people within the European Union.

In this study, IDC describes the main characteristics of the Western European education sector. The main indicators include the number of organizations, the number of employees, and annual expenditure. Data and related descriptions are provided for education (NACE 80), with some detail for primary, secondary and higher education institutions. The study includes indicators of education characteristics and activities for total Western Europe and for the five major countries, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.

"Education is one of the pillars to achieve the objectives of the EU Lisbon agenda. IT vendors that want to serve the education sector successfully must understand the need to upgrade levels of educational attainment and to harmonize education systems across countries to contribute to the sustainable and continuous development of the European economy and society," said Massimiliano Claps, Program Manager Public Sector, IDC European Vertical Markets.