OECD Information Technology Outlook OECD Information Technology Outlook 2002 « Icts and the INFORMATION ECONOMY
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OECD Information Technology Outlook 2002 « Outlook OECD Information Technology ICTs AND THE INFORMATION ECONOMY Information technology (IT) continues to be a major driver of economic change, restructuring OECD Information businesses, affecting skills and employment, and contributing significantly to growth and wealth creation. This volume describes the main trends in industries and businesses Technology Outlook supplying IT goods and services. It looks at the impact of IT diffusion and applications, as well as the growing importance of network effects as the use of IT expands. It describes recent market dynamics and gives a detailed overview of the globalisation of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. It also analyses the increasingly important ICTs AND THE INFORMATION software sector and examines the growth in electronic commerce as well as some of the barriers to its expansion. ECONOMY This volume also looks at developments in the provision and use of ICT skills, mismatches between supply and demand and potential remedies. It traces the diffusion of ICTs and examines the digital divide among individuals, households and businesses, then highlights the potential of selected technological developments that will affect the commercial exploitation and socio-economic impacts of ICTs in the medium term. Finally, it provides an overview of IT policies in OECD countries, particularly those aimed at expanding the supply and use of ICT skills and overcoming the digital divide. National IT policy profiles are available at the following URL: www.oecd.org/sti/information-economy OECD's books, periodicals and statistical databases are now available via www.SourceOECD.org, our online library. This book is available to subscribers to the following SourceOECD themes: Science and Information Technology Social Issues/Migration/Health Ask your librarian for more details on how to access OECD books on line, or write to us at [email protected] www.oecd.org ISBN 92-64-19754-0 93 2002 02 1P 2002 -:HSTCQE=V^\ZYV: 2002 © OECD, 2002. © Software: 1987-1996, Acrobat is a trademark of ADOBE. All rights reserved. OECD grants you the right to use one copy of this Program for your personal use only. Unauthorised reproduction, lending, hiring, transmission or distribution of any data or software is prohibited. You must treat the Program and associated materials and any elements thereof like any other copyrighted material. All requests should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD Publications Service, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. OECD Information Technology Outlook ICTs AND THE INFORMATION ECONOMY 2002 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996), Korea (12th December 1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December 2000). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publié en français sous le titre : Perspectives des technologies de l’information de l’OCDE LES TIC ET L’ÉCONOMIE DE L’INFORMATION 2002 © OECD 2002 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: www.copyright.com. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. FOREWORD The Information Technology Outlook 2002 has been prepared by the OECD under the guidance of the OECD Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP), and in particular its Working Party on the Information Economy. It is the sixth in a biennial series designed to provide Member countries with a broad overview of trends and near-term prospects in the information technology (IT) industry, an analysis of the growing impact of IT on the economy and society, new developments in selected areas of information technology and a description of IT policy directions. Building on the 2000 edition, the 2002 edition further extends the economic and policy analysis. The first three chapters provide an overview of the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in national economies, describe recent market dynamics and examine some of the impacts of the use of ICTs, give a detailed overview of the globalisation of the ICT sector and provide a thorough analysis of the increasingly important software sector. The next three chapters describe the growing use of electronic commerce, rapidly evolving developments in the provision and use of ICT skills and the diffusion of ICTs and the digital divide. The last two chapters examine selected technological developments that will shape ICT exploitation and socio-economic impacts in the medium term and provide an overview of IT policies in OECD countries. Detailed statistical tables are provided in Annex 2. Information technology policy profiles are posted separately on the OECD Web site to enable their widespread diffusion (www.oecd.org/sti/information-economy). The IT Outlook 2002 was prepared by: Graham Vickery, Vladimir López-Bassols, Catalina Martinez, Pierre Montagnier and Elizabeth Muller of the OECD's Information, Computer and Communications Policy Division; Alessandra Colecchia, Elena Anton-Zabalza and Andrew Devlin of the Economic Analysis and Statistics Division (Chapter 4); and John Houghton (consultant). It benefited from valuable contributions from Delegates to the ICCP Committee's Working Party on the Information Economy, under the chairmanship of Mr. Richard Simpson (Canada), particularly regarding national IT policy developments and up-to-date national statistics on the production and use of IT goods and services. The report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. 3 © OECD 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS Highlights.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1. ICTs and their Role in the Economy.............................................................................................................. 21 ICTs and their contribution to growth and economic performance ..................................................................21 The ICT-producing sector ....................................................................................................................................... 23 The growing role of ICTs across the economy...................................................................................................... 45 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................ 60 Appendix. ICT Firms ............................................................................................................................................................ 61 Notes ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 77 References ............................................................................................................................................................................ 78 Chapter 2. Globalisation of the ICT Sector ..................................................................................................................... 79 Globalisation of the ICT sector .............................................................................................................................. 79 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................................