Digital Economy and Information Capitalism - United States Department of Commerce

 Digital Economy and Information Capitalism mm U.S. Department of Commerce Introduction of three annual reports
economy: When the Nasdaq composite index more than 5,000 points from the peak down to a callback to the ultra-low 1,500 points, when all of the risks investors , people's evaluation of the digital economy has been engaged in the process. In the past more than two years, the Wall Street investment analysts to advance the people over the next five years the digital economy of the imagination, and at the highest point on the same day the Nasdaq composite index to the lowest point of the test a low, also hinder people evaluate the objectivity of the digital economy. When most people with the Nasdaq falling over on the digital economy, the negative evaluation of support comments, let us look carefully on the number of U.S. Department of Commerce to determine the economic growth and long-term evaluation, may be helpful for.
U.S. Department of Commerce for three consecutive years since 1998, announced the number three on the Economic research report (1998, described the economic performance of industry to the information technology industry on economic growth, inflation, employment and labor market analysis of the impact of emerging e-commerce in the specific description. three years of studies fully confirmed the information technology the great change driven the U.S. economy.
study in 2000, the Ministry of Commerce of the words used in the past introduction to the report claimed, period of economic and social development, which are built on the basis of digital technology innovation. In this new era, creating new ways of working, new contacts, new products and services and new community model.
above this text, can be seen as the U.S. Department of Commerce to make the overall assessment of the digital economy and the main conclusions, which focused on the expression of the controversial U.S. Department of Commerce figures for the economy's basic attitude. The conclusion drawn is not easy, United States Commerce Department analysts who spent more than three years, a great deal of statistical research, analysis, research and demonstration, Xiabi Luo, June 1999, analysis.
comparison since 1998, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued three consecutive annual reports, and related accessories, you can clearly see that the U.S. government on this unprecedented Basic Evaluation of the digital revolution:
- the U.S. economy is undergoing a profound transformation. This most obvious external signs change, but also one of its fundamental causes, is a revolutionary technological advances. It consists of powerful personal computers, high-speed electronic communications, and Internet. in the past 15 years, information technology, innovation, capital market innovation, business model innovation, information technology products and services, prices continued to fall, to increase investment in the industry, is the U.S. has sustained high economic growth, low inflation, high employment, a the main reason.
- the last five years, the Internet exploded in the United States has entered a growth phase. to the Internet as a symbol of large-scale construction of information infrastructure, the phenomenal growth of e-commerce is changing the way corporate management, mergers and acquisitions means and customer service practices, and enterprise relationship management with suppliers, and are allowing people access to information, communication, shopping and entertainment revolution, an unprecedented occurrence.
- The information revolution is that human society ; digital divide . part of the poor in developed countries, most developing countries will likely change in this figure outside.
- new forms of organization, new institutional structure with the new technology, new economy are important components. While the core of the economy, the same as before, is rooted in human nature, rather than any new technological advances, approach is no different (Greenspan language) instilling values to consumers the way, and so on.
- is booming, and emerging e-commerce has become a promising economic model. the rapid development of information technology, substantial growth in U.S. productivity, and changes associated with the growth of information technology, will long continue.
these basic conclusions, on the one hand, describes the status of the United States and the level of the digital economy, on the other hand, reflects the U.S. government's overall assessment of the digital economy. the United States the emerging information revolution, the government faces major challenges, positive and relevant research institutions and enterprises to collaborate, publish annual study digital economy aimed at a timely manner and attitude of the Government's position that, as industrial policy and provide the basis for the formulation of public policy, guide the healthy development of economy and society.
To better understand the U.S. Department of Commerce study on the digital economy, we must first in-depth understanding of the past 15 years the history of technological change, formation, size and development. Because of rapid technological change and complexity, but also the very wide range of related fields, causing people to understand the obstacles for the information revolution. is changing so fast and so large amount of information, making it difficult to catch up. theoretical model of the digital economy can not be early in its development set up, so, case studies and sample surveys have become the main tool of the digital economy. whether it is business or government, whether it is non-profit organizations or the private sector, a large number of the Internet and digital economy generated research institutions. even in the U.S. presidential race The candidates if they do not show the Internet and e-commerce for the national strategy, you will lose a lot of votes. In short, in order to determine and measure these changes, ideas, innovations and changes in the way of thinking is extremely important. at least people can not then the existing classification and > nearly 15 years, the U.S. economy the most noteworthy is that the field of information technology investment in gross domestic product (GDP) appears twice in the share of rapid growth. This growth is accompanied by two two major technological change, and a new pillar of global companies. The two major changes in technology and promote industrial structure from the longitudinal vertical structure, horizontal structure to the horizontal integration, penetration, led to two major investment expansion.
The first big investment growth from 4.9% growth in 1985 to 6.3% in 1990, when PC penetration into homes and offices. the computer industry evolved from vertical to horizontal industrial industry, personal computer (PC) widely used, adapted a commercial operation, to support the Dow Jones index broke the thousand point mark, produced as Intel, Microsoft and other U.S. economic pillars of the new company, as well as IBM, APPLE, HP, DEC, COMPAQ and a number of computer industry companies.
The second largest investment growth, from 6.4% in 1993 to 8.2% in 1998, began in 1993 driven by the Internet communication activities outbreak. Computer and Communication, combine to produce the Internet, the communications industry have a tremendous impact on the vertical , rewrite the exchange, to create and engage in commercial trade, to support the Dow Jones index broke the ten thousand mark, the continuous generation of like America Online (AOL), Cisco (Cisco) and other new economic pillars, as well as Yahoo, Netscape, @ home , Lycos, Amason, ebay and so many new Internet, e-commerce company. created only 15 years of the new technology company AOL (1640 billion in market value), mergers and ace media giant Time Warner years (840 billion in market value) of the miracle. According to statistics, since Netscape the market, the United States has more than 300 Internet-related stocks listed in 2000 is estimated to increase to 400 the total number of these have been listed and ready to be listed in the new company, gathered from the global capital markets to absorb a large number of capital and wealth to the rapid rise of ultra-conventional way, drive the information technology industry in the total share of nominal GDP growth of close to 15%, a profound impact on the economic and social life of the United States.
Now, a new round of technology changes under way, and may drive the field of information technology, investment growth in the third largest. Industry experts believe that with the narrow-band Internet is different from the information infrastructure to support broadband and data services will drive bandwidth consumption of U.S. companies to continue to promote the assimilation of technology the U.S. economy, will also produce a large number of new economic pillar enterprises. As broadband service itself has a network of digital features, the new round of industrial revolution is bound to the personal computer revolution, the Internet revolution, based on and to start a more intense form of globalization.
U.S. information technology, Internet and e-commerce to further the penetration of the traditional industries, restructuring and integration of the state show that a cross-border, large, service-oriented economy in the new market is formation, industry estimates the size of this new market will be a narrow-band Internet, personal computers and thousands of times the size of the two markets. Meanwhile, the population of the United States to further rely on more global in nature in this life and consumer broadband networks in the next few During the year, will result in a physical community (real economy) corresponds to the virtual community (virtual economy) eventually emerged.
Second, on the three-digit economic growth in the number of U.S. law
drive the main driver of economic growth One is the rapid development of information technology, and it caused a decline in production and service costs and product economy to a service economy in transition. of information technology on the digital economy, driven from the Kraft Law transistors integrated in a semiconductor wafer manufacturing, which is .60 years after the chip, the chip's integrated double every 18 months, at the same time, chip prices are six sub-number (106) in the fall, which is the famous The Moore's Law. chip performance doubles every 18 months, less than half the price situation has been for 30 years, Bell Labs and the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates were made: this situation will continue for 20 years. Correspondingly, the changes in optical communications, semiconductor and computer people cf the area of Moore's Law, the Internet communications found a new Moore's Law: Internet backbone bandwidth every 6 to 9 months to double. This shows that Moore's Law, based on the communication changes in the field to the computer field is two to three times the speed of progress. Moore's Law and Moore's law reveals new semiconductor and optical communications within the information technology industry as the two engines to index the form of continuing to promote the information industry revolution.
- Metcalfe's Law. The value of computer networks, the number of nodes into a quadratic equation with the relationship, this is the famous Metcalfe regulations. In other words, the number of computers relative to the Internet more, its economy and greater social impact. Economists information technology phenomenon called development of new software, etc.), but adding a new user to an existing network costs are very low. Conversely, when very few network participants, when the value of the network for the participants is very low, but when the network participants increasing number of time, its value to rise. For example, a telephone network is of no use, but also added a telephone has increased the value of the network. As more and more calls to join, may be The contact number will rise. With the continuous expansion of network scale, commercial productivity gains will approach faster than the speed of simple arithmetic increase. Metcalfe's Law reveals the value of the Internet with the growth in the number of users The arithmetic progression was (polynomial) growth or growth in the rules of quadratic equations.
- Yahoo laws. Moore's Law and the new Moore's Law is proven by practice, Metcalfe law theory has proved accurate. Following Moore's Law, Metcalfe's Law, the digital economy coming out of the than, the Internet will continue to be put in place a huge money. digital economy, when capital market access to the information technology industry, large-scale time, it is also growth in the digital economy, when an explosion.
from the three law-digit economic growth can be seen, semiconductor technology, computer technology, Internet communications technology constant change, growth in the digital economy is a major cause. In the interaction of technology and market, the information technology industry, investment growth, especially in the capital market-driven digital economy and innovation, but also a number of important factors of economic growth. In information technology in all walks of life in the process, the innovative business model also accelerated the growth of the digital economy.
In short, the digital economy, the growth of the formation of its own logic. chip capacity, the tremendous growth of optical transmission capacity and cost, for the computer and the Internet provide a technical basis, leading to a variety of network and software innovations; Then, the explosive growth of the Internet to promote a commercial organization and mode of operation of the main changes, leading to the main body and individuals to commercial products and services various aspects of innovation. Information technology is constantly changing technological change and business models, organizational change management in the rapidly growing interactive. Why break the monopoly and the achievement of full competition can benefit the end consumers, a large extent, the application of rapid technological change and diffusion, making the rapid decline in the cost of products and services, the declining cost far less than the cost of consumption in the competition.
Third, on the history of the Internet and its explosive growth following the 80
the mid-PC penetration to the home and office after the mid-90's explosive popularity of the Internet began to open, its economic and social impact of any technology in human history and production tools can not match. In the United States ahead of any of the digital economy Behind the countries and regions, we find that the United States is not only the birthplace of the Internet, and the fact that the center has become a global Internet. to understand this history and the reasons for understanding the digital economy is very good.
s First, the Internet's history and the birthplace of the late
60, the U.S. Department of Defense commissioned a study from Stanford University, the main contents are: how to ensure that nuclear strike even if by accident, the United States can still effectively use the military chain of command . According to this request, the network is designed to be dispersed, without the center, each node on the network can be a command and control centers, have generated, receive and transmit information. online information is broken down in a node as a or communication lines were destroyed, the packet can still be transmitted through other paths, and sent to the destination. no one even thought of this design concept to create the Internet.
According to this design, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency established ARPANET, was it only four computers connected. Later, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded and MCI, leased communication lines, the nation's five supercomputer centers are joined together to establish a NSFnet. After further upgrade and after speed, NSFnet be open to the public as the most important backbone of the Internet. When in 1983, TCP / IP as the communication protocol standard ARPANET, the Internet has finally been born. In fact, the Internet can be defined as logically through a globally unique address, based on TCP / IP protocol to connect with the global information system. It consists of thousands of interconnected computer systems.
present, the Internet is in its cycle of growth and the starting point for mass market penetration .90 two early to promote the development of their growth, namely: the World Wide Web (WWW or simply Web) the emergence and subsequent such as Netscape (Netscape) the company's Navigator (Navigator) or Microsoft (Microsoft) to explore the company's Internet who (Internet Explorer) and other graphics-based web browser innovation. Today, the Internet has to phone, fax, computer, radio and television to bring together all business.
second commercial created the explosive growth of the Internet
Internet for research and education areas of early communication, with a large number of companies have joined up to the Internet, making Internet content, applications considerably expanded. into the 90's, Internet users followed the explosive growth.
It statistics, the Internet world in 1996 was less than 40 million population, to the end of 1997, more than 1 million more than a year has doubled in the end of 1998 reached 171 million Internet users, Internet users reached the end of .1999 2.59 million, which the United States reached 1.1 million, accounting for 43% of the total global Internet, Japan more than 20 million, 46 million major European countries by the end of .2000, a figure estimated to reach 340 million, compared to 1999 increased 80% over the U.S. and Canada Internet users half of the global online population. estimated that in 2005 the global Internet population will reach 765 million. Another indicator is the measure of growth of the Internet domain name, that the number and size of online agencies around the end of .1996 62.7 million Internet domain names were registered to the end of 1997, the number of registered domain names to be doubled to 150 million, the end of 1998 and reached 300 million .1999 by the end of the global domain name registration is close to 6 million.
Third, the Internet's first-mover advantage to the United States
dominate the high concentration of Internet USA, a US-led global development of the Internet, and in fact has become a global center of Internet business. Internet first came in the United States, to its users began to be widely used abroad, the U.S. domestic market has enormous, and a backbone infrastructure has also been established, and the rest of the world has come to attract a lot of money. Since then, the strength of increasing returns to scale advantages of the United States to further strengthen the Internet. The following indicator reflects the number of US-led Internet Position:
First, the business flow. all international telephone services via the United States, only 30% (even call back and relay transmission), but all Internet traffic there is 90% of business in the United States initiated termination or adoption. The reason is that the major Internet backbone providers in the United States, while outside North America the size of a small amount of limited regional Internet backbone.
Second, the leading Internet content. At present, the most visited Internet 100 a network of sites, 94 are located in the United States. Internet 81% of all web pages in English, and from the United States which account for a very large part.
Third, hosts and users are concentrated in U.S. .1999 year, the U.S. still has all the nearly 60% of Internet users, while the U.S. telephone subscribers account for only 20% of the world. the future development trend of Internet hosts, the United States of the world will tend to reduce the proportion of the total, however, is still dominant. in the foreseeable future, non-OECD countries will still host on the Internet only a very small share. Therefore, the next time the status of the Internet in developing countries will not have any significant changes.
Fourth, in the past, present and future long period of time, the global Internet governance in all major decisions will be made by the United States. code for the Internet domain name policy, although the United States to lose control of some signs, such as the IP address assignment, the decision of protocol parameters, the domain name system management, and basic server system management functions, transferred to a non-profit organization, however, the U.S. representative in the Internet domain code collaborators (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN) in the dominant position, as no representative of developing countries, as there is still a fundamental change. currently taking place in the Chinese domain name dispute, from the Internet, the global management of resources is basically unfair share.
short, the U.S. economy created several years to maintain high growth, high employment, low inflation, the historical record, does benefit from its information technology and the Internet has to offer. Most of the reason is that it captures well the mid-80s PC revolution, the Internet revolution in the mid-90s the opportunity. At the national legal and institutional support innovation, free and open market environment, through continuous technical innovation and business innovation, it will important to global economic development and strategic resources gathered around . just as it has to rely on economic growth in the industrial world's annual consumption of nearly 2 / 3 of the oil resources, today the U.S. digital economy relies heavily on the rapid growth of 90% of global Internet traffic share the information.
IV on the information technology industry and its impact on the U.S. economy
U.S. Department of Commerce announced in April 1998 the first annual report, the global information infrastructure will support the industry as the information technology industry. The reason why this definition of information technology industry is the result of 90 years of information technology equipment, communications equipment, software and services a wide range of applications, the U.S. domestic market and the gradual integration into the international market with a market. This market dominated by the Internet, the global information infrastructure support. < br> In order to define clearly at the outset the scope of the information technology industry and the boundary, the Commerce Department report, 1999 edition of spending a lot of space, the U.S. Institute of Information Technology, American Electronics Association, the North American Industry Classification System of the information technology industry made a detailed comparison of definition and analysis, the Commerce Department finalized the definition of the information technology industry. It is obvious that the report uses the definition of the information technology industry over the scope of the definition of the first three institutions to be wider, it includes : information technology manufacturing, software and services, communications services, computer equipment and software, wholesale trade, computer equipment and software, retail and so on. Research Report on the information technology industry, the definition of employment, including: all employment in the information technology industry staff, all non-information technology industry and information technology-related staff positions.
order to measure the information technology industry and growth of economic output, inflation, business investment and employment impact and contribution, the study by increasing the value measure the output of the information technology industry. that is, the added value is an industry and all the new income, including wages, benefits, business taxes and profits. all industries combined is the added value of gross domestic income (GDI). adopt this different types of income approach can be drawn in the share of industry in national economy.
information technology industry on the impact on the U.S. economy, as the 2000 edition of the annual report pointed out in Chapter III: technology industry, the Internet and electronic commerce. information technology company providing information technology support for the economic life of products and services business operations since the mid .90, it is an important factor in these industries, there was rapid and sustained economic growth, inflation rate reductions and numerous technical innovations. improve the information technology industry growth in economic output as a proportion of 6.3% from 1994 to 2000 increased 8.3%.
Second, falling prices of information technology products, reducing overall U.S. inflation. information technology products and services, lower prices, indirectly and directly led to the total U.S. economy, lower inflation rates. Since the mid-90s since the information technology products has intensified the trend of falling prices, leading to overall U.S. inflation fell by 0.5 percentage points .
third, from 1995 to 1999 real GDP growth in the information technology industry accounted for almost one third. the information technology industry output in the United States accounted for 10% of economic output. In 1995 and 1999 years, due to the rapid growth of information technology industry and information technology products and services, lower prices, the information technology industry accounted for U.S. real economic growth 30%.
Fourth, the use of commercial and investment activities of information technology equipment and software continued growth. Between 1995 and 1999, information technology equipment and software, the actual business investment more than doubled, from 243 billion U.S. dollars increased to 510 billion U.S. dollars. In 90 years, information technology equipment and software investment increasing in the United States rapid economic growth, an important factor. all information technology equipment investment average annual increase of 9-10 percentage points, while the 80's, the figure is 5 to 6 percentage points.
Fifth, in order to achieve technological innovation, with a total of development costs increased to 1999 In 1994, total U.S. investment in research and development of the average annual increase of 6% (after inflation), but from 1989 to 1994, this figure is only about 0.3%.
Sixth, information technology to total productivity growth played a huge contribution. In order to effectively use information technology to make the necessary organizational restructuring of the company, than the company has not done so to a greater production capacity. on whether the impact of information technology on productivity A major change in this issue is that some in the past to the simple reason: the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand the definition of information technology, the National Bureau of Economic Analysis software expenditures classified as investment from the current cost.
In short, the digital revolution in the mid-90s on many factors exist before, but From the mid-90s onwards, and potential of the combined effect of these began to emerge substantially, and the huge impact the U.S. economy.
Fifth, on information technology on employment and labor market impact of the proliferation of information technology
and e-commerce development has affected the business model, forcing people to adopt more flexible forms of organization, improve operational efficiency. competition, international market entry and organizational form of change, affecting the demand for jobs, wage levels and skills requirements, thus affecting the labor market. three annual reports have cited a large amount of data, analysis of employment demand in the information technology industry, wage levels and the development trend of skill requirements, reached the following main conclusions:
- - along with the wage levels and the increasing demand for skills, employment in the information technology industry is growing demand. By 2006, the provision of information technology equipment and services industry, and the use of information technology equipment and services, major industries, will employ about half of (49%) of the private workforce, in 1989 the figure was 44%.
- Internet applications and e-commerce continues to develop, making the and systems analysts) increase in demand, but also created a new information technology professional, changed the number of non-information technology needs of professional skills and improve the work of many low-skilled minimum skill requirements.
- the skills requirements increase, corresponding increase in the wages of workers in information technology. information technology workers and all other workers, the wage gap continued to widen. respond to the labor market, emerged a large number of training facilities, the training of workers from lower skill levels to moderate skill levels can engage in the work of.
- information technology industry and work between employment and unemployment, employment in other sectors.
- 1998, the employment in the information technology and other sectors of information technology network services jobs moving a total of about 740 million, accounting for 6.1% of the total labor force. Over the years, information technology jobs the number of total employment growth has been higher than the rate of the mid-90s this becomes even more evident. From 1994 to 1998, the information technology industry employment increased by about 28%, jobs in the same period the amount of the network also increased 22%. with this Correspondingly the same period, the amount of U.S. non-agricultural labor force grew by only 11%.
information technology workers has not only created the computer and communications industries, but also created a number of economic development of vital new knowledge and new ideas and new information. In order to meet the demand for information technology personnel, the U.S. government and the business community have taken a variety of ways to enhance the number of information technology practitioners. If the federal government to implement H1-B visa program to actively attract foreign technicians into the United States, 1998 the number of visas the U.S. Congress to increase from 6.5 million to 11.5 million in 1999, this number has increased to 20 million. According to statistics, 60% entered the U.S. information technology industry. In addition, the government-funded training and by the enterprise provide staff training, are being widely implemented.
six main features of the new economy and its
1999 edition of the U.S. Commerce Department study, the same American Development Policy Institute published the Index the digital economy are in a nascent stage, there are a lot of content overlap and cross, difficult to make a strict distinction.