Investments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are greatly responsible for the nation’s productivity gains over the past decade, and a key advisor to President Obama is encouraging more investment via the government’s economic stimulus package.
“If you invest in ICT infrastructure in an economic downturn, you not only get better short-term job-creation effects but you get better long-term productivity impacts,” says Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C. think-tank, and member of Obama’s transition team.
Atkinson notes that the current stimulus plan invests $7.2 billion in broadband networks, “but the market could have absorbed at least $15 billion.” And with the world economy so mired, it’s important that new technology get into place ASAP. “You want these projects to hit the ground running over the next 18 months, and ideally sooner than that,” he told IDG News Service.
Explaining that stalling on stimulus-related technology projects could result in diminished economic output and increased budget deficit, he said: “If you make these investments and you make then right, you can certainly have long-run economic impacts, which can be very sizeable.”