The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has released its 2011 edition of the IT Industry Competitiveness Index, which found that despite its economic woes, the US has the world's most competitive IT market.

analyst, Rolf Jester, told Computerworld Australia that while the US may be on the verge of recession, it hasn't stopped the nation from maintaining its competitive edge in the IT space.

"Competitive doesn't necessarily equate to the size or growth rate of the market," he said.

"Failure is a big, big black mark against a business person [in Australia] but in the US, that goes on your CV as a plus, up to a point... cultural differences make a real impact."

Jester said that while he couldn't comment directly on the results of the research, he did say that Australia has an edge over other nations when it came to the kinds of investments that are made here.