Information Technology R&D
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- - Chapter 9 Technology and Industry —— Contents Page Importance of Information Technology . 307 Findings . 307 Composition of Information Technology . 308 Functions .. 308 Examples of System Applications . 309 Characteristics of theU.S. Information Technology Industry . 316 Employment . 317 International Trade . 317 Industry Structure . ..., . , . 320 Small Entrepreneurial Firms . .......321 Where the Technology is Heading . 323 Microelectronics. 324 Silicon Integrated Circuits. 324 Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuits . 328 The Convergence of Bio-technology and Information Technology . 330 Software . 331 The Changing Role of Software in Information Systems . 332 The Software Bottleneck . 333 Software and Complexity . 334 Conclusion . 335 Tables Table No. Page 50. Functions, Applications, and Technologies . 309 51. Characteristics of Human Workers, Robots, and Nonprogrammable Automation Devices. , . , . , . 312 52. Comparison of the U.S. Information Technology Industry With Composite Industry Performance, 1978-82 . 317 53. Employment Levels in the U.S. Information Technology Industries . 318 54.U.S. Home Computer Software Sales . 320 55.U.S. Office Computer Software Sales. 321 56. Percentage of Total industry Sales and Employment by Size of Small Businesses . 322 57. Venture Capital Funding and Information Technology Firms, 1983 . 323 58. ICs Made With Lithographic Techniques . 326 59. Software Sales by Use , . 332 Figures Figure No. Page 52. Direct Broadcasting Satellite System . 311 53. The Changing Structure and Growth of the U.S. Information Technology Industry . 318 54. Balance of Trade, Information Technology Manufacturing Industry . 319 55. U.S. Trade Balance with Selected Nations for R&D Intensive Manufactured Products . 319 56. Historical Development of the Complexity of Integrated Circuits . 324 57. Read-Only Semiconductor Memory Component Prices by Type . 325 58. Median Microprocessor Price v. Time . 325 59. Minimum Linewidth for Semiconductor Microlithography . 326 60. A Schematic of an Electron Beam Lithography System, and Its Use to Make LSI Logic Circuits . 327 61. Trends in Device Speed–Stage Delay per Gate Circuit for Different Technologies . 328 62.The Relative Costs of Software and Hardware. 332 Chapter 9 Technology and Industry Importance of Information Technology Information technology and the industries nology industry. ” Because of the varying that advance and use its products are becom- definitions and the differing statistical anal- ing increasingly important to America’s eco- yses arising from them, it is impossible to pin nomic strength. Information technology is a down the size of the industry. A relatively con- core technology, contributing broadly to the servative estimate, discussed later in this Nation’s trade balance, employment, and na- chapter, places the annual sales of the U.S. in- tional security. The information sector already dustry at over two hundred billion annually accounts for between 18 and 25 percent of the and growing. From another perspective: over gross national products of seven of the mem- one-half million jobs depend on computer in- ber nations of the Organization for Economic dustry exports.4 Cooperation and Development (OECD) and be- tween 27 and 41 percent of employment in these countries.12 2 Findings An important characteristic of this technol- In examining the composition of informa- ogy is the rapidity with which research results tion technology, the characteristics of the U.S. are translated into “advanced” products and industry, and where the technology is heading, from there to the mainstream consumer market- several trends become apparent: place. This rapid transfer has been particularly 1. The U. S. information technology industry evident in semiconductor research leading to is large and growing rapidly; there is a world cheaper and more powerful microprocessors. market for its products and services as the Given the accelerated movement from the developed countries increasingly move into research laboratories to a worldwide market- the information age. place, it is natural that the attention of the 2. The technology is pervasive, making pos- trading nations has focused on information sible major productivity improvements in technology research and development (R&D). other fields, creating new industries, and Two basic building blocks of information tech- enlarging the range of services available to nology are: the public. The technology diffuses through ● the microelectronic chip-the large scale most facets of life, including business, engi- integrated circuit that permits the stor- neering and science, and government func- age, rapid retrieval and manipulation of tions. vast amounts of information, and 3. With each level of technological advance in ● software-the sets of instruction that di- basic information technology, the level of rect the computer in its tasks.3 complexity and cost increases for R&D, as does the demand for additional technical As noted in chapter 2, there is no consen- training for R&D personnel. sus on what composes the “information tech- ‘Information Activities, Electrom”cs and Tekwomtnum”cations Technologies: Impacts on Employment, Growth and Trade ‘Robert G, Atkins, The Computer Industry and International (OECD, Paris, 1981), pp. 22 and 24. Trade; A Summary of the U.S. Role, Information Processes ‘M. R. Rubin, Information Econom”cs and Policy in the Group, Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology, Na- United States, Libraries Unlimited, Littleton, CO, 1983, tional Bureau of Standards, December 1983, p. IX-1. Draft of pp. 32-44. a report under joint development by ICST and the International 3Software may also refer to the stored information. Trade Administration, as of February 1985. 307 308 • information Technology R&D: Critical Trends and Issues 4. Domestic and foreign competition for world 5. There will be continued rapid advances in markets is both intensive and escalating. the capabilities of the industry’s underlying The stakes for the United States are great basic building blocks, microelectronics and in terms of corporate sales and competitive software. ness in world markets, and employment. Composition of Information Technology Individual information technologies have 3. Information Storage. The storage media grown explosively in technical sophistication associated with the information industry and, at the same time, diminished in cost. That are the electronic-based devices which rare combination has propelled the new tech- store data in a form which can be read by nologies into the mass marketplace. As the a computer. They include film, magnetic two basic building blocks continue their ad- tape, floppy and hard disks, semiconduc- vances, the parade of new information tech- tor memories, and so on. The ability to nology capabilities and applications will go on. store increasingly vast amounts of data There is a recurrent pattern in which one has been essential to the information tech- nology revolution. technological advance makes possible still 4. Information Processing. Information proc- other advances, often in a “bootstrap” fash- ion. For example, sophisticated computer- essing is the primary function of a com- aided design (CAD) equipment is a tool used puter. The information stored by a computer can be numeric (used for com- in development of state-of-the-art random ac- putations), symbolic (rules of logic used cess memories and microprocessors; develop- for applications such as “expert” sys- ment of the next generation of super-comput- tems), or image (pictorial representations ers depends on use of today’s most advanced used in applications such as remote map- computers; “expert” systems— still in their ping). The stored information–in what- technological infancy-are already employed ever form—is manipulated, or processed, in configuring complex computer systems and in response to specific instructions (usu- custom-designing integrated circuits. ally encoded in the software). The increas- ing speed of information processing has Functions been another essential factor in the infor- For purposes of this report, the term “infor- mation technology revolution. mation technology” has been used to refer to 5. Communications. Electronic communica- the cluster of technologies that provide the fol- tions utilizes a variety of media-the air lowing automated capabilities: waves (for broadcast radio and television), coaxial cable, paired copper wire (used, 1. Data Collection. Examples of automated among other things, for traditional tele- data collection systems range from large- phony), digital radio, optical fibers, and scale satellite remote-sensing systems communications satellites. Communica- such as weather satellites to medical ap- tions systems play a major role in broaden- plications such as CAT-scans and elec- ing the use of other facets of information trocardiograms. technology and make possible distributed 2. Data Input. Input devices include the fa- computing, remote delivery of services, miliar keyboard, optical character read- and electronic navigation systems, among ers, video cameras, and so on. They are many other applications. the means by which data are inserted and 6. Information Presentation. Once the infor- stored, communicated, or processed. mation has been sent, it must be “pre- ‘~ Ch, 9–Technology and Industry ● 309 sented” if it is to be useful. This can be Table 50 shows some of the technologies and accomplished through a variety of output application areas that depend on these functions.