ABSTRACT
The phrase ‘information and communication technologies’ refers to a diverse but converging set of activities, which share a common concern with the creation, storage, processing and transmission of information in a digital form. The pervasive nature of this technology reflects its generic character, its capacity to find application in almost all economic fields. But the present chapter is concerned with those parts of the economy that are involved in producing rather than using ICT. Hence it is concerned with sectors such as telecommunications and computing, rather than (say) automobiles, pharmaceuticals or financial services (each of which makes extensive use of ICT).
