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Page 1
Executive Summary
There has been a revolution in computing and communications in
the past few decades, and all indications are that technological
progress and use of information technology will continue at a rapid
pace. These advances present many significant opportunities but
also pose major challenges. Today, innovations in information
technology are having wide-ranging effects across numerous domains
of society, and policy makers, although currently lacking
sufficient understanding and analysis of the consequences of their
decisions, are acting on issues involving economic productivity,
intellectual property rights, privacy protection, and affordability
of and access to information, among other concerns. Choices made
now will have long-lasting consequences, and attention must be paid
not only to their technological merit, but also to their social and
economic impacts.1
Despite the significance of these impacts for society, there has
been relatively little investment in research to help understand,
predict, and shape them. Among the reasons for this underinvestment
are the rapid emergence of these phenomena and the difficulties in
conducting the interdisciplinary work required to understand them.
In the cross-cutting arena of the information economy, research on
how information technology affects organizations and economic
productivity can lead to better use of the technology for the
benefit of society and individuals alike. Improved knowledge of how
people interact with computing and communications technology, the
circumstances under which people will benefit from it, and the
differential impacts that such technology has on different
communities can be incorporated as well into decisions affecting
technology design and deployment.
To explore possibilities for research on the impacts of
information technology and ways to assess these impacts, the
Steering Committee on Research
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OCR for page 1
Page 1
Executive Summary
There has been a revolution in computing and communications in
the past few decades, and all indications are that technological
progress and use of information technology will continue at a rapid
pace. These advances present many significant opportunities but
also pose major challenges. Today, innovations in information
technology are having wide-ranging effects across numerous domains
of society, and policy makers, although currently lacking
sufficient understanding and analysis of the consequences of their
decisions, are acting on issues involving economic productivity,
intellectual property rights, privacy protection, and affordability
of and access to information, among other concerns. Choices made
now will have long-lasting consequences, and attention must be paid
not only to their technological merit, but also to their social and
economic impacts.1
Despite the significance of these impacts for society, there has
been relatively little investment in research to help understand,
predict, and shape them. Among the reasons for this underinvestment
are the rapid emergence of these phenomena and the difficulties in
conducting the interdisciplinary work required to understand them.
In the cross-cutting arena of the information economy, research on
how information technology affects organizations and economic
productivity can lead to better use of the technology for the
benefit of society and individuals alike. Improved knowledge of how
people interact with computing and communications technology, the
circumstances under which people will benefit from it, and the
differential impacts that such technology has on different
communities can be incorporated as well into decisions affecting
technology design and deployment.
To explore possibilities for research on the impacts of
information technology and ways to assess these impacts, the
Steering Committee on Research
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Page 2
Opportunities Relating to Economic and Social Impacts of
Computing and Communications held a 2-day workshop on June 30 and
July 1, 1997, involving participants with expertise in economics,
social sciences, and computer science and engineering. Since this
was an endeavor of limited budget and time frame, centered on
discussions and interactions among participants at a single
workshop, the workshop steering committee focused on identifying
and developing examples of some significant research issues and
concerns, rather than aiming to cover the full range of relevant
topics. The content of this workshop report thus reflects
suggestions made and issues raised in workshop activities and in
the position papers submitted by workshop participants.
Chapter 1 outlines some of the trends in the growth of computing
and communications discussed at the workshop and highlights several
policy areas—including economic productivity, wage inequality,
and technology design—in which interdisciplinary research
involving both information technologists and social scientists can
contribute to a better understanding of the economic and social
impacts of information technology. The value of the social science
approach, which draws on systematically developed theories of human
behavior in combination with sound supporting data, is contrasted
with the overreliance on anecdotes, extrapolation, and sloganeering
that often characterizes the writing of pundits.
Chapter 2 presents examples of cross-cutting research that has
been conducted to understand information technology's influence in
personal, community, and business activities and gives suggestions
regarding important open research questions. Incorporating examples
given at the workshop and in position papers, it indicates some
ways in which use of methodology from economics and the social
sciences might contribute to important advances, and it describes
how interdisciplinary research between social scientists and
information technology researchers might help to improve knowledge
of outcomes affecting private life and the household, the
community, the social infrastructure, and business and the
workplace. Chapter 2 concludes with a list of broad research topics
offered by the steering committee as examples of promising areas
for ongoing research.
Social science research depends on researchers having access to
enough reliable data to establish a basis for reaching valid
conclusions. Chapter 3 provides a brief overview of the types of
data used by social scientists in their investigations and
describes some of the problems encountered in data collection,
management, and use. According to some workshop participants,
researchers working at the intersection of information technology
and socioeconomic issues confront a number of challenges related to
the availability of data. Chapter 3 concludes with some suggested
approaches to meeting these challenges.
Based on discussions at the June 1997 workshop and on material
in the position papers submitted by its participants, the steering
committee identified several options for fostering
interdisciplinary research and making the results of
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Page 3
this research more accessible to the public and policy makers.
Chapter 4 presents these options.
The appendixes list the workshop agenda and participants and
include a selection of the position papers submitted, as well as
two additional background papers commissioned for the workshop.
Examples Of The Applicability Of
Social Science Research
Presented at the 1997 workshop and in participants' position
papers was an array of examples showing applications of the results
of social science research to improve understanding of the economic
and social impacts of information technology in different domains,
including the following:
•
Private life and the household—Social experiments can be
used to measure the impact of computerization on household members'
behavior.
•
Community—Sociological studies can illustrate the
differential impact of technology on user communities and members
of organizations.
•
Social infrastructure—Economic analysis and historical
studies can be used to illustrate some of the policy trade-offs
involved in universal service.2
•
Business and labor
—
Social science methods can be used to examine decisions about
organizational structure.
—
Economic analysis of changes in labor markets can contribute to
effective economic policy.
—
Historical studies of technological adoption of the electric
motor are relevant to current issues in computer technology.
—
Sociological studies of technical support communities can
contribute to better practices within those communities.
•
Information economy and society
—
Historical analysis of intellectual property disputes can yield
insight into current problems in this area.
—
Economic analysis of networks can lead to greater understanding
of market phenomena.
—
Economic analysis of pricing can shed light on how online
commerce will be conducted.
Illustrative Broad Topics For Ongoing
Research
Workshop discussions and position papers yielded numerous
suggestions for research topics. The list below was compiled by the
steering committee as an illustrative set of promising areas for
research.
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Page 4
•
Interdisciplinary study of information
indicators—Researchers have recognized and begun to analyze
the increasing role that information plays in all aspects of
society. Interdisciplinary study could help to identify and define
a set of broadly accepted measures of access to, and the use and
impact of, information and information technology. Composite
information indicators such as an interconnectivity index
(characterizing the extent to which individuals, organizations, and
businesses are linked to each other) and a marginalization index
(characterizing the extent to which the benefits of information and
information technology are not available to certain segments of
society) could be established.
•
Impacts of information technology on labor market
structure—To enable informed decision making on critical
policy issues such as how to respond to increasing wage inequality
(involving, for example, efforts to assess the potential benefits
of additional investment in training), it is important to
understand to what extent and how the use of computers might affect
wage distribution.
•
Productivity and its relationship to work practices and
organizational structures for the use of information
technology—Gains in productivity come not only when new
technology is introduced but also when new ways are found to use
the technologies. Compilation of work that has already been done in
this area is needed. Continued research also could illuminate how
better to quantify the economic inputs and outputs associated with
use of computers.
•
Intellectual property issues—Policy makers 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 ramifications in such far-reaching concerns
as 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 prove to be a
promising approach to addressing complex social issues arising from
the use of new computer and communications technology.
Approaches To Meeting Requirements For
Data
As was noted in workshop discussions and some of the position
papers submitted by participants, approaches such as the following
could contribute to meeting the requirements for data needed to
study the economic and social impacts of information
technology:
•
Making data related to the social and economic impacts of
computing and communications available to the research community
through a clearinghouse;
•
Exploring ways for researchers to obtain access to
private-sector data;
•
Increasing data collection efforts by government;
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Page 5
•
Exploring the development of new multipurpose data sets by the
research community;
•
Establishing stronger ties with industry associations to
facilitate collaborative research; and
•
Exploring in workshop sessions uses of the Internet as a source
of data on social interactions that take into account ethical and
privacy issues associated with data collection, archiving, and
reporting.
Options For Fostering
Interdisciplinary Research And
Improving Access To The Results Of Research
Based on discussions at the June 1997 workshop and material in
participants' position papers, the steering committee identified
several options for fostering interdisciplinary research and making
the results of such research more accessible to the public and
policy makers.
•
Encouraging interdisciplinary studies and collaboration between
researchers in information technology and researchers in the social
sciences and economics through use of the following:
—
Interdisciplinary workshops to convene researchers with
expertise in a range of fields to explore successful approaches to
conducting research on the impacts of information technology, as
well as to foster increased collaborative work;
—
Interdisciplinary curricula to help prepare students for
collaborative work with researchers in other fields; and
—
Interdisciplinary fellowships to stimulate intellectual
cross-fertilization and development of professional contacts.
•
Funding to strengthen interdisciplinary research through the use
of the following:
—
Evaluation of large technology system research proposals with
attention to their inclusion of interdisciplinary research on
behavioral, social, legal, and economic implications;
—
Synergistic use of major research programs that build or deploy
prototypes of computing and communications systems, so as to
improve understanding of impacts and to enhance outcomes; and
—
Collaboration with private foundations and industry so as to
leverage resources.
•
Making the results of interdisciplinary research more accessible
through the use of mechanisms such as the following:
—
A World Wide Web page containing headlines and abstracts of
policy-relevant social science research, pointers to the print
and/or online published results, and regularly updated reviews of
literature summarizing the state of
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the art in various fields as well as directories of specialists
in particular areas; and
—
Supplemental ways of disseminating the results of research, such
as by providing testimony at hearings held by policy makers or
organizing specialized briefings for policy makers.
Notes
1. Throughout this report, the term ''impacts" is used as a
shorthand expression to indicate a complex set of multicausal,
multidimensional outcomes of the use of technology. Technology does
not typically have a single impact, but rather a range of different
outcomes depending on the context or settings. For more discussion,
see Box 1.1 in Chapter 1 and Attewell's and Kling's papers in
Appendix B of this volume.
2. Universal service is the practice of making
telecommunications and information services—such as basic
telephone service—available at an affordable price to all
people within a specified jurisdictional area.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
papers submitted
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