Enhancing Productivity Growth in the Information Age : Measuring and Sustaining the New Economy

This report summarizes a workshop—Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making: Implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants held June 7-10, 2004, in Beijing, China. The presentations and discussions summarized here describe the types of scientific information necessary to make informed decisions to eliminate the production and use of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) banned under the Stockholm Convention, sources of information; scientifically informed strategies for eliminating POPs, elements of good scientific advice, such as transparency, peer review, and disclosure of conflicts of interest; and information dealing with POPs that decision makers need from the scientific community, including next steps to make such science available and ensure its use on a continuing basis.

Starting in the mid 1990s, the United States economy experienced an unprecedented upsurge in economic productivity. Rapid technological change in communications, computing, and information management continue to promise further gains in productivity, a phenomenon often referred to as the New Economy. To better understand this phenomenon, the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) initiated a project to better measure the contributions of different elements of the a /new economya (semiconductors, computers, software, and telecommunications) and to develop policies to meet the needs of these growth-enhancing industries. Accompanied by four workshop reports, this summary volume describes the steps required to better measure and sustain the benefits of this a /new economya in the sectors examined.