Canada

[GB] The development of the Information Society - An international analysis

IRIS 1996-9:1/8

Stefaan Verhulst

PCMLP University of Oxford

The report The Development of the Information Society: an International Analysis is the result of a pilot study to determine how to measure the UK's progress towards the information society. It was commissioned from Spectrum Strategy Consultants as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's Information Society Initiative (ISI). The consultants analysed the performance of the UK, five other G7 countries (USA, Canada, Japan, France and Germany) and three countries selected because of their pioneering activities within the context of the Information Society (Australia, Sweden and Singapore). According to the report the latter has not been fully realised in any country. The Information Society is still at an early stage and means different things to different people. Not only is there uncertainty about the end target but there is also debate about the routes ahead. The report identified four possible business routes (the IT path, the mobile path, the data capacity path and the content path) and four possible consumer routes (the TV path, the PC path, the mobile path and the community access path). Those paths are not mutually exclusive and are driven by - on the one hand - the demand and supply side and - on the other - the role played by Governments. Access to the infrastructure, purchasing power, competitive pricing, content and culture are mentioned in the report as the demand key drivers. The supply should then depend upon a strong existing supply base, access to capital and skills. Finally, the report identified two important governmentÆs roles: as user and as promoter.