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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Max Nathan; Anna Rosso |
| Abstract: | Governments around the world want to develop their ICT and digital industries. Policymakers thus need a clear sense of the size and characteristics of digital businesses, but this is hard to do with conventional datasets and industry codes. This paper uses innovative ‘big data’ resources to perform an alternative analysis at company level, focusing on ICT-producing firms in the UK (which the UK government refers to as the ‘information economy’). Exploiting a combination of public, observed and modelled variables, we develop a novel ‘sectorproduct’ approach and use text mining to provide further detail on the activities of key sector-product cells. On our preferred estimates, we find that counts of information economy firms are 42% larger than SIC-based estimates, with at least 70,000 more companies. We also find ICT employment shares over double the conventional estimates, although this result is more speculative. Our findings are robust to various scope, selection and sample construction challenges. We use our experiences to reflect on the broader pros and cons of frontier data use. |
| Keywords: | Quantitative methods; firm-level analysis; Big Data; text mining; ICTs; digital economy; industrial policy |
| JEL: | C81 L63 L86 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60615&r=ict |
| By: | Juraj Stan?ík (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The report provides a detailed analysis of the state of public expenditure on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Research and Development (R&D) in the European Union (EU). We also provide an interim assessment of the extent to which the Digital Agenda target about doubling public ICT R&D expenditures has been achieved. Furthermore, besides focusing on the EU, we compare these expenditures with public expenditures on ICT R&D in the EU’s main counterpart, the United States of America (US). Our analysis, covering the period 2006-2011, shows that EU ICT R&D public funding has been steadily growing. In 2011, it reached €6.1 billion which represented 6.6% of the whole public R&D funding. Regarding the comparison with the US, we conclude that the US government devotes more ICT R&D funds than all the EU Member States governments together but this gap has been shrinking and during the period 2006-2011 it decreased by 50%. |
| Keywords: | ICT; information and communication technologies; innovation; R&D; NABS; GBAORD; public funding; ICT R&D; EU; the US |
| JEL: | E61 H50 O32 O52 R12 R28 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc92883&r=ict |
| By: | Sabadash, Anna |
| Abstract: | This study examines the evolution of the number of ICT-skilled workers employed in industry sectors in the EU28 over the period 2000-2012. Data are taken from the Eurostat Labour Force Statistics. It introduces a novel definition of ICT specialists that combines occupations and skills taxonomies. For the period prior to the introduction of the Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) it starts from the OECD definition but includes a wider range of ICT occupations. From 2011 onwards it adopts the thematic view for ICT occupations proposed by the ILO (2012). It confirms that employment of ICT specialists in the EU27 has been resilient to the economic downturn and uncertainty in global labour markets, and was able to maintain a growth path of 4.3% per year over the period 2000-2012, more than 7 times higher than average growth of total employment over the same period. Though ICT employment evolved cyclically it never turned negative. This rapid growth in ICT employment confirms the increasing importance of ICT technologies in the global economy. |
| Keywords: | employment; ICT specialists; occupation; education |
| JEL: | C18 J0 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61644&r=ict |
| By: | Greg Sand (Molloy College, USA); Leonidas Tsitouras (GlobaliFusion, USA); George Dimitrakopoulos (GlobaliFusion, USA); Vassilis Chatzigiannakis (GlobaliFusion, USA) |
| Abstract: | The internet and Social Media have been playing a vital role in almost everyone’s communication and interactions. The same holds true for a company’s two-way communication with its consumers. This tremendous flow of information can drastically increase any company’s exposure to its consumers and shoppers. Consequently, it can decisively affect consumers’ opinion about products and services. Molloy College in Rockville Centre, New York is the home of GiF, the first worldwide, holistic ICT-based approach to managing the Big Data issue in Social Media Marketing. GlobaliFusion (GiF) aims at bringing together entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes with their consumers by aggregating insights from Social Media and online publications in order to translate them into return-on-investment (ROI) positive marketing strategies and to accelerate their growth, applying technologically innovative and efficient marketing practices. Over the last five years there has been a tremendous shift of investments by marketing departments of major corporations, focusing on Social Media and digital marketing solutions versus traditional media. Despite the abundance of Social Media marketing solutions, there is no concrete framework on how to actually listen to people interacting in Social Media and to use these insights to perform and monitor Integrated Marketing campaigns. Furthermore, monitoring Social Media campaigns’ impact on public opinion and decisions through Social Media channels, and assisting companies accelerate their growth accordingly with novel integrated tools and strategies has been an unexplored field. GiF is striving to be established as the global leading platform for increasing the intelligence of companies through social media management and through a group of innovative ICT-based solutions for realizing ROI positive business strategies and tactics. |
| Keywords: | Social Media Marketing, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Big Data, Opinion Mining (also known as Sentiment Classification), Augmented Reality (AR). |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2015:no2&r=ict |
| By: | Jean-Paul |
| Abstract: | The Information Society Unit at IPTS (European Commission) has been investigating the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector and ICT R&D in Asia for several years. This research exercise led to three reports, written by national experts, on China, India and Taiwan, each one including a dataset and a technical annex. This report offers a synthesis on three out of the four BRIC countries (Brazil, India, Russia, China). The report describes, for each of the three countries (Brazil, India, China), its ICT sector, and gives a company level assessment. It also analyses Indian ICT R&D strategies, and assesses the innovation model. In 2010, BRIC countries accounted for 13% of global demand, with spending of about €328 billion in ICT (EITO, 2011). Therefore, they are becoming major players as producers of ICT goods and services. China has become the world’s largest producer of ICT products (exports of ICT increased fourfold between 2004 and 2008). This impressive growth of the ICT market is translated into R&D expenditures and output. Innovative capability in Asia has grown, the dynamics in terms of catching up are strong. Asian countries are increasingly present in the ICT R&D global landscape. |
| Keywords: | ICT, landscape, Brazil, India, China |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc92241&r=ict |
| By: | Kristoffer Moeller |
| Abstract: | Knowledge based firms like IT companies do neither have a capital- nor a land intensive production. They predominantly rely on qualified labour and increasingly depend on the location of its (potential) employees. This implies that it is more likely that firms follow workers rather than the other way around. Contributing to the literature of firm location and consumer cities I empirically test the amenity oriented firm location hypothesis. In particular I investigate whether Berlin internet start-up firms, representing a footloose knowledge-based service industry, locate in urban amenity-rich places. Identification builds on the sudden fall of the Berlin Wall. The intra-city analysis yields a significant impact of urban amenities on the location of internet start-up. A comparison with other service industries suggests that amenities are significant to the location choice of creative sectors whereas no effect can be observed for non-creative firms. |
| Keywords: | firm location; urban amenities; consumer city; internet start-ups; entrepreneurs; Berlin |
| JEL: | D20 L20 R30 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57875&r=ict |
| By: | Ellen Helsper |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether the impact of offline identities on computer-mediated communication is stable across different social contexts or whether it depends on which identity aspect is salient. Field experiments with 206 teenagers tested the influence of gendered, ethnic, youth and personalized identities on teenagers' chat behaviour and cognitions. The findings show that offline identity varies in its relation to Internet self-efficacy but not chat partner selection. Self-efficacy differed significantly between boys and girls when youth and gender identities were emphasized but not when stressing personal identity. Across conditions, teenagers were most likely to choose chat partners from similar ethnic and opposite sex backgrounds. This partly supports the Social Identification and Deindividuation framework and argues that offline identities impact online behaviour and self-perception but that this effect depends on which identity aspect is activated. |
| Keywords: | chat; computer-mediated communication; ethnicity; experiment; gender; internet self-efficacy; social identity |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:51116&r=ict |
| By: | Matilde Mas (Ivie - Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas); Juan Fernández de Guevara Radoselovics (Ivie - Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas) |
| Abstract: | The 2014 PREDICT report covers the period 2006-2011 analysing the consequences of the deep recession that began in early 2008 which impacts the first most severe downturn in 2009 for the European Union (EU) ICT sector and its R&D performance. The report found that the EU ICT sector continued losing share in total value added, but gaining the share in terms of employment and BERD intensity. The share of ICT R&D public funding (GBAORD) on total GBAORD also increased in 2010 and 2011. However, as a result of the reverse progress on the value added and employment, ICT sector’s labour productivity showed a downward trend during the observed periods. In terms of sub-sector analysis, the ICT manufacturing and services have both recovered to create additional employment in 2011 even though the impact is less profound for the latter. On international comparison, the US still led in ICT sector productivity and value added in 2011. However, in BERD activities, they are being challenged by four Asian countries: Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. |
| Keywords: | ICT; information and communication technologies; R&D, BERD, GBAORD, ICT manufacturing, ICT services; Europe; US, Japan, indicators. |
| JEL: | O30 O32 O52 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc93448&r=ict |
| By: | Alexander J.A.M. Van Deursen; Anke Görzig; Marianne Van Delzen; Hanneke T.M. Perik; Anne Grace Stegeman |
| Abstract: | The performance levels of fundamental (i.e., operational and formal) and advanced (i.e., information and strategic) Internet skills and their potential predictors were assessed among a sample of Dutch primary school children. The findings suggest that primary school children possess sufficient levels of fundamental but not advanced Internet skills and, hence, might not be able to make best use of important opportunities the Internet has to offer. Children employed very ineffective and inefficient search strategies and did not combine information to make beneficial decisions. Contrary to previous survey research findings, no performance differences among boys and girls were revealed when using actual performance tests. Training programs to support advanced Internet skills among primary school children should be considered. |
| Keywords: | internet; skills; literacy; children |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57211&r=ict |
| By: | Davide Antonioli (Dipartimento di Economia e Management, Via Voltapaletto 11, Ferrara, Italy.); Grazia Cecere (Telecom Ecole de Management, Institut Mines-Telecom d Author-Name: Massimiliano Mazzanti) |
| Abstract: | We analyse how the joint adoption of ICT practices and environmental innovation affect the labour productivity of firms. We study complementarity in innovation adoption, with respect to the specific research hypotheses that the higher thediffusion and radicalness of ICT and EI, the higher might firm\rquote s productivitybe. As ICT are considered to be able to reduce the environmental footprint of different economics activities. We exploit original survey data which cover manufacturing firms for a dense SME area in the North-East of Italy (Emilia-Romagna region). We originally merge innovation survey data over 2006-2008 with firm\rquote s balance sheets over 2010-2011 to achieve this aim.The empirical evidence shows that for Emilia-Romagna manufacturing firms there are still wide margins for improving ICT-EIs integration in order to exploit their potential benefits on firm economic performance. However, the awareness of specific synergies seems to mainly characterizethe heavy polluting firms, subject to ETS schemes, while for the remaining firms prevalently emerge some substitutabilityrelations between ICT and EI. The latter firms are strategically less capable of exploiting the potential synergies between ICT and EI. |
| Keywords: | ICT, environmental innovation, adoption, SME, polluting sectors, Porter hypothesis, complementarity, labor productivity. |
| JEL: | D22 L23 L25 L60 M15 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:1514&r=ict |
| By: | Bart Cammaerts; Bingchun Meng; Robin Mansell |
| Abstract: | The creative industries are innovating to adapt to a changing digital culture and evidence does not support claims about overall patterns of revenue reduction due to individual copyright infringement. The experiences of other countries that have implemented punitive measures against individual online copyright infringers indicate that the approach does not have the impacts claimed by some in the creative industries. A review of the UK Digital Economy Act 2010 is needed based on independent analysis of the social, cultural and political impacts of punitive copyright infringement measures against citizens, and the overall experience of the creative industries. |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:54275&r=ict |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Erik Brynjolfsson; Lucia Foster; Ron Jarmin; Megha Patnaik; Itay Saporta-Eksten; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | The Census Bureau recently conducted a survey of management practices in over 30,000 plants across the US, the first large-scale survey of management in America. Analyzing these data reveals several striking results. First, more structured management practices are tightly linked to higher levels of IT intensity in terms of a higher expenditure on IT and more on-line sales. Likewise, more structured management is strongly linked with superior performance: establishments adopting more structured practices for performance monitoring, target setting and incentives enjoy greater productivity and profitability, higher rates of innovation and faster employment growth. Second, there is a substantial dispersion of management practices across the establishments. We find that 18% of establishments have adopted at least 75% of these more structured management practices, while 27% of establishments adopted less than 50% of these. Third, more structured management practices are more likely to be found in establishments that export, who are larger (or are part of bigger firms), and have more educated employees. Establishments in the South and Midwest have more structured practices on average than those in the Northeast and West. Finally, we find adoption of structured management practices has increased between 2005 and 2010 for surviving establishments, particularly for those practices involving data collection and analysis. |
| Keywords: | IT; Management; Productivity; Organization |
| JEL: | M1 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60267&r=ict |
| By: | Nick Couldry; Hilde Stephansen; Aristea Fotopoulou; Richard Macdonald; Wilma Clark; Luke Dickens |
| Abstract: | This article explores the possibilities for new forms of ‘digital citizenship’ currently emerging through digitally supported processes of narrative exchange. Using Dahlgren's (Dahlgren, P. 2003. “Reconfiguring Civic Culture in the New Media Milieu.” In Media and the Restyling of Politics, edited by J. Corner, and D. Pels, 151–170. London: Sage; Dahlgren, P. 2009. Media and Political Engagement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.) circuit of ‘civic culture’ as a model for exploring the interlinking preconditions for new acts of citizenship, we discuss the contrasting outcomes of research at three fieldwork sites in the North of England – educational (a sixth form college), civil society (a community reporters' network) and social (a local club). Each site provided clear evidence of the elements of Dahlgren's circuit (some depending on the intensive use of digital infrastructure, others predating it), but there were also breaks in the circuit that constrained its effectiveness. A crucial factor in each case for building a lasting circuit of civic culture (and an effective base for new forms of digital citizenship) is the role that digital infrastructure can play in extending the scale of interactions beyond the purely local. |
| Keywords: | digital citizenship; civic culture: circuit; narrative exchange; digital storytelling; communities of practice |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:54411&r=ict |
| By: | Sonia Livingstone; Leslie Haddon |
| Abstract: | This report is Deliverable D1.5C (Third Annual Progress Report, to cover the period from 01/11/13 to 31/12/14). - This report is based on the work of the whole EU Kids Online network of 33 countries as well as the International Advisory Panel (see Annex 1 for a list of all members). - This third and final annual report is organised in two ways. First, we report on activities by date, noting key activities and events in accordance with the project timeline. - Second, we summarise activities by WP, noting progress and any issues arising for each. - The annexes provide additional information (meeting agendas and participants, lists of contacts and dissemination activities, etc.) as appropriate. |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60228&r=ict |