ABSTRACT
Although information technology is a term that has entered common usage over the last ten years it is rarely defined precisely. The following definitions adapted from Porat (1977) are used here: information is data that have been organized and communicated; the information economy is that part of economic activity that involves the production, processing and distribution of information goods and services and the provision of inputs thereto. Thus, for example, within the firm it includes such activities as research and development, managerial decision-making, market research, filing invoices, data processing and telephone communication. In the wider context such activities as telecommunications, education, the arts and the media may also be included. The sorts of products involved in the information economy include not only computers, but also television, radio, hi-fi systems, telecommunications systems, word processors, videos and many related goods. Information technology is the pattern of products produced by and processes used in the information economy. The media conception of information technology as related to recent advances in, and the convergence of the interrelated fields of, micro-electronics, fibre optics, software engineering, communications, and computer technology, is encompassed within this definition.
