ABSTRACT
The growth of data services and international trade and foreign direct investment in these services forms part of a broader process of technological change based on developments in microelectronics. A crucial question is what role trade and foreign direct investment in data services will play in shaping the international dimensions of data technologies. It may be appropriate to place national policies regarding data services into the larger context of an industrial policy and the desired economic development path. Awareness by policymakers in developing countries of the importance of data services will be an important factor in facilitating their adaptation to changing patterns of technology and comparative advantage. Questions of management autonomy in the age of transborder data flows expand the agenda with which policymakers in developing countries will have to deal in their relations with transnational corporations.
