ABSTRACT
In 1986 the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) established its Programme on Information and Communication Technologies (PICT). PICT’s origins can be traced to an academic concern not only with the social and economic implications of information technology (IT) but also a concern on the part of policy makers with the role of information activities in economic development. Many major public decisions were having to be made in the absence of well-grounded research on the implications of various regulatory regimes. Current examples include policy towards international trade in information based services which are under discussion in the General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade (GATT) round, on regulation of telecommunications considered in the recently completed review of the telecommunications duopoly in the UK, and on the regulation of information intensive-industries such as the media incorporated in the 1990 Broadcasting Act.
