Since the 1990s, the rise of the internet and proliferation of information technology (it) have combined to create a global networked infrastructure. this infrastructure has, in turn, accelerated the development of a new global “knowledge economy,” where business models are more often driven by expertise and intellectual capabilities and based on networking, connecting and collaborating. in the global knowledge economy, national economies are, in many ways, inseparable from the larger global economy, and the United States is more dependent on the rest of the world than ever before. the software and information industries are key drivers of the new globalk nowledge economy. as such, they are among the fastest-growing and most important industries of the U.S. and world economies. these industries publish and distribute information,1 provide software applications2 and related web-based services and create the needed infrastructure and tools to further today’s software and information-based economy.3 well-known firms such as adobe, bloomberg, google, oracle, Salesforce.com, Sun microsystems, the mcgraw-hill companies and thomson, along with thousands of lesser-known companies, create transformative products and services at the leading edge of innovation.
increasingly, software and information products are converging. Just a decade ago, the software industry distributed its products encoded on disks, while the information industry published content predominantly in printed form or through proprietary telecommunications networks. the evolution and growth of technology over the last decade, driven by the emergence and ubiquity of the internet, has led to a substantial convergence of software and information products and services, the internet-based global network is driving a confluence of information and software, breeding new-look offerings and companies that combine the value proposition of each. today, it is rare to find a software application without robust information content or to access digital information content that is not delivered or powered by software. the Software & information industry association (Siia) produced this report to measure the substantial economic impact of the software and information industries on the U.S. and global economies. this report provides much-needed data to help inform policymakers and thought-leaders seeking to understand and develop policy and regulatory frameworks promoting strong growth, innovation and continued U.S. global leadership in the increasingly competitive global knowledge economy.