[governance]

[yehudakatz at mailinator.com]

Facts, Stats, & Figures...

IT boosts the US economy by some $2 trillion a year 
By Andrew Thomas: Tuesday 13 March 2007
[ http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38196 ]

RESEARCHERS RECKON the US economy would be further in the toilet if it weren't
for IT firms. 

According to their bean counting, IT boosts the US economy by some $2 trillion
annually.  The taxes paid thereon help fight wars, kill Arabs and build missile
stations in the sky. 

Anyone not yet having worked out why such IT giants as Microsoft and Intel can
get away with having monopolies or HP can get away with spying and only suffer
the odd slap on the wrist might now be able to put two and two together. 

The report by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) says
the  
integration of IT into virtually every aspect of the economy and society has
created an economy generating economic growth and prosperity, both in the US
and abroad, the report stated. 

"For the US alone we found that, because of the digital revolution, GDP is $2
trillion larger today than it would have been had growth in the post-1995 era
proceeded at the 1974 to 1995 rate," said Robert Atkinson, president of the
ITIF. 

He added that, while productivity gains from IT are among the highest in the
US, most other nations have benefited from the IT revolution, including
Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, the Netherlands and
Switzerland. 

Yup. Canada. 

"Accelerating digital transformation is likely to be the most important step
policy makers can take to ensure robust economic growth in the future,"
Atkinson reckons. µ

-

Re:

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
[ http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=34 ]

Digital Prosperity
Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution
March 13, 2007

There have been surprisingly few attempts to catalogue what is known about the
economic impact of information and communications technology (IT). In a new
report, ITIF does just that, examining the impact of IT in five key areas: 1)
productivity; 2) employment; 3) more efficient markets; 4) higher quality goods
and services; and 5) innovation and new products and services. The report finds
that the integration of IT into virtually all aspects of the economy and
society is creating a digitally-enabled economy that is responsible for
generating the lion’s share of economic growth and prosperity, both here and
abroad, including in developing nations. Importantly, the “IT engine” does not
appear likely to run out of gas anytime soon and should power robust growth for
at least the next decade, provided that policy makers take the right steps.
Toward that end the report lays  
out five key public policy principles for driving digital prosperity: 1) give
the digital  
economy its due; 2) actively encourage digital innovation and transformation of
economic sectors; 3) use the tax code to spur IT investment; 4) encourage
universal digital literacy and adoption; and 5) do no harm.
-
L'INQ:
ITIF report Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the 
information Technology Revolution (PDF)

[ http://www.itif.org/files/digital_prosperity.pdf ]
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, send any message to:
     governance-unsubscribe at lists.cpsr.org

For all list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance