First Results of the Ifo Business Survey in the Data Processing Services Sector in Western and Eastern Germany

The transformation to an information society is the challenge facing Germany on the threshold to the 21^st century. Innovations in information and communication technology have provided the technological prerequisites for a previously unimaginable expansion of information and communication (I&C) services and applications. At the same time economic, political and societal trends have increased the need for information in all areas of professional and private life (Hummel and Saul, 1997, p.3).