It's been a busy year for the IT industry, but next year could see the technology sector completely changed.

Cloud computing hit headlines in 2009, but iXBRL will take priority next year.

HMRC announced from 1 April 2011 all tax returns and supporting financial statements must be compiled using iXBRL.

What is XBRL? It's a tagging system which allows investors to compare financial information. Users can "tag" or "barcode" information which can be used for comparisons by investors and analysts.

These tags however, can't be read by most computers. iXBRL can.

Although this sounds like a great idea in theory it can be costly. So far it looks as though software companies are bearing the brunt of this leap forward.

IT companies I have spoken to have pooled their resources into research and development as well as extra support services.

All have denied an increase in support charges in the future, but it will be interesting to see where the money comes from to push this technology forward.