ABSTRACT
Schumpeter (1939) gave a new twist to the whole debate with his conception of 'successive industrial revolutions' when new technologies were diffusing through the productive system. Whether or not they accept Schumpeter's long wave ideas, few economists or engineers today would deny the enormous worldwide impact of information and communication technology (ICT). In fact, many commentators go even further and suggest that ICT is ushering in an entirely new era or 'post-industrial' society. Everyone would today accept that the extraordinary reduction in costs associated with microelectronics in successive generations of integrated circuits, of telecommunications and of electronic computers (Table 17.1) is having great effects on almost every branch of the economy, whether in primary, secondary or tertiary sectors. Earlier new technology systems such as steam power or electricity had similar pervasive effects, but ICT is unique in affecting every function within the firm as well as every industry and service. Scientific and market research, design and development, machinery, instruments and process plant, production systems and delivery systems, marketing, distribution and general administration are all deeply affected by this revolutionary technology. Moreover the counter-inflationary effects of falling costs and prices in microelectronics, computers and telecommunications affect a widening range of products and services.
