An International Perspective on I&C Policies: Recent Developments and Future Prospects

The last few years have seen unprecedented growth in information and communication technologies (I&C) and products, which has led to a robust growth in the whole world, and especially in the United States. Euphoria was such that the term 'New Economy' was coined about 4 years ago, and was taken to mean almost the same as 'New Technologies', mostly information and communication technologies. These technologies are truly global. They are important instruments for further globalisation, and for reducing the international digital divide; they offer important opportunities for further world economic growth. There is increasing competition in their operation, which brings great benefits to customers in the form of reduced prices and new applications. International co-ordination of standards, trade and regulatory frameworks is increasingly necessary. PTOs and other operators need to keep constantly abreast of developments in various international fora, especially the ITU, the WTO and the OECD.