economy

If education is responsible for preparing its students to be contributing members to the world 

economy (it is the opinion of the author that this is a responsibility of education), we must 

consider what type of an economy these students will be entering. In October 1998, The World 

Information Technology and Services Alliance (WISTA) published a report entitled, Digital Planet, 

the Global Information Economy. WISTA commissioned International Data Corporation to perform 

this study which presents the broadest view of current levels of customer spending on information 

technology and communications ever assembled. The study concluded that spending on 

information and communications technology (ICT) is a critically important element of the 

worldwide economy. Below are some of the study's findings (WISTA, 1998):

 ICT was responsible for $1.8 trillion in spending in 1997. 

 In 1997, ICT spending was nearly 40% larger than in 1992. 

 ICT spending is growing 27% faster than the overall worldwide Gross Domestic Product. 

 Spending on ICT is a key accelerator, catalyst, and multiplier of a wide variety of social 

and economic measures, including company and job growth. 

 An average of 7,200 new tax-paying ICT companies have been added in the United 

States during each of the last five years. 

 380,000 "software and service" jobs have been added in the United States during the 

past five years. 

 ICT increases overall economic activity. 

With the world economy so intricately tied to information and communications technologies, the 

careers of today and tomorrow are directly related to these technologies. The Thornburg Center 

recently conducted a study of the 54 jobs identified by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as 

having the highest numerical growth between now and the year 2005. Of the 54 jobs, 46 required 

technological fluency, and none of the remaining eight paid more than double minimum wage 

(Thorburg, 1997). Technological fluency is more than technological literacy; it requires that an 

individual be as comfortable using technology as they are reading the newspaper. The lack of 

technologically fluent workers is already a problem. The Information Technology Association of 

America (ITAA) has warned that one out of ten jobs requiring information technology skills is 

going unfilled (Thornburg, 1997). Clearly, our educational system is failing to adequately prepare 

technologically fluent workers, so we must ask what does education need to do to address this 

problem?