Chapter 9:

Significance of Information Technologies

Conclusions

IT is having substantial effects on many domains of society, including the economy, education, research, and the home. In most areas, however, the effects of IT—and the choices that can be made to influence the effects—are not well understood. Moreover, significant new technologies are changing the nature of the effects as they are being researched. There is a large agenda for future research.

NSF sponsored a National Research Council (NRC) study of research needed on the economic and social effects of IT (CSTB 1998). Although the NRC panel did not attempt to provide a comprehensive research agenda, it highlighted an illustrative set of promising areas for research:

• Interdisciplinary studies of information indicators. Interdisciplinary study could help to identify and define a set of broadly accepted measures of access to, and the use and effect of, information and IT. (See sidebar, "Potential Information Technology Indices.")



• Effects of IT on labor market structure. To facilitate informed decisions on issues such as how to respond to increasing wage inequality, it is important to understand how and to what extent the use of computers might affect wage distribution.



• IT, productivity, and its relationship to work practices and organizational structures. Much evidence suggests that IT’s effect on productivity depends on how it is used in organizations. Compilation of work that has already been done in this area is needed. Continued research also could illuminate how to better quantify the economic inputs and outputs associated with use of computers.



• Intellectual property issues. Policymakers considering revisions to intellectual property law or international agreements, as well as firms evaluating possible approaches to protecting intellectual property, would benefit from continued theoretical and empirical research.



• Social issues addressed at the protocol level. Widespread use of the Internet has far-reaching effects on intellectual property rights, privacy protection, and data filtering. Exploring how these concerns might be addressed at the protocol level—through policies, rules, and conventions for the exchange and use of information—could be a promising approach to addressing issues arising from the use of new computer and communications technology. Examples include the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS)—which implements a set of protocols for rating Web sites—and P3P, a project for specifying privacy practices.

The NRC panel also identified ways to improve the data needed to study the economic and social effects of IT, such as making data related to the social and economic effects of computing and communications available to the research community through a clearinghouse; exploring ways for researchers to obtain access to private-sector data; and establishing stronger ties with industry associations to facilitate collaborative research.