IT needs to overcome a perception that it's more tactical than strategic -- "Business and IT executives differ in their perceptions of strategic and operational IT issues, from IT's strategic role to its performance. And an A.T. Kearney survey of senior business and IT executives conducted this summer by Harris Interactive suggests that senior business executives don't believe IT is keeping pace. Many of these business leaders believe IT is tactically focused and that the best technology innovations come from the business side. Unless significant changes are made, those differences may continue to define -- and possibly limit -- IT's strategic role."
Few technology sectors sit as close to the center of gravity in today's artificial intelligence (AI) economy as semiconductor manufacturing. Every AI chip that trains a frontier model, every GPU that powers a data center inference workload, and every power management IC that keeps hyperscaler facilities running traces its origins back to the global Foundry ecosystem. IDC's latest market study throws that reality into sharp relief, projecting that the broadly defined Foundry 2.0 market will surpass $360 billion in 2026, a 17 percent year-over-year gain that would have seemed optimistic even two years ago. For anyone advising boards or investment committees on technology and AI infrastructure strategy, this growth trajectory demands careful consideration. Foundry 2.0 Market Development The umbrella term covers four distinct verticals: pure-play foundry, non-memory integrated device manufacturer (IDM) production, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), and photomask fab...