ABSTRACT
The truly global nature of business today is nowhere more apparent than in the case of these information-based industries. The economics of the software industry is similar to that of the music and publishing industries. Telecommunications is the fastest growing of the world's largest industries. In telecommunications, standards emerge from a variety of sources, including government and intergovernmental agencies, industry and trade associations. Although remote access to electronic databases has formed the basis of an international information services industry for several decades, the increasing globalization of the electronic domain carries major implications for those currently engaged in the industry. While striving to create a single market in which its information-based industries could attain critical mass, Europe has probably lost the battle for hardware and software sales to the United States and Japan. It will be market forces in a global economy that will determine the direction of the information-based industries for the next century.
