Information Economy

Issues relating to the digital economy.

Global mobile payments transactions are expected to rise nearly four-fold over the next five years to more than $1.3 trillion.

The news this past week that more than a dozen retailers have announced plans to create a mobile-payments system called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) highlights the growing interest in near-field communications (NFC)-based mobile payment solutions in the United States, a field in which the United States has trailed several Asian countries. As ITIF has noted, it remains important for policymakers to support the development of interoperable NFC standards so that these solutions can work across a wide array of mobile devices and point of sale systems. Read more »

Source

Mobile Payments Strategies: NFC, Remote Purchases & Money Transfer 2012-2017

Information Economy

MCX Announcement Highlights Growing U.S. Interest in NFC-Based Mobile Payments

August 15, 2012

| Blogs & Op-eds

Stephen Ezell

READ ONLINE

The announcement that more than a dozen retailers have announced plans to create a mobile-payments system called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) highlights the growing interest in near-field communications (NFC)-based mobile payment solutions in the United States, a field in which the United States has trailed several Asian countries. The competition this will create with Isis—a mobile-payments solution being developed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon—Google Wallet, Square, and others will drive innovation and growth in the nascent industry while encouraging competitors to develop solutions delivering maximum value for consumers.

While business investment in all forms of capital increased by only 13 percent between 2001 and 2011, investment in IT capital increased by 66 percent.

As we look to the future we can expect more IT job growth. The U.S. economy is growing ever more dependent on IT for innovation, productivity growth, and quality of life improvements. While business investment in all forms of capital increased by only 13 percent between 2001 and 2011, investment in IT capital increased by 66 percent, over five times faster. And, in contrast to Nick Carr's pessimistic prognosis, IT innovation has continued at a rapid pace, powered by significant price declines and rapid performance improvements. Read more »

Source

Looking for Jobs? Look to IT in 2012 and Beyond

Information Economy

U.S. Postal Service Posts Quarterly Loss of $5.2 Billion

Bloomberg Businessweek

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-10/u-dot-s-dot-postal-service-posts-quarterly-loss-of-5-dot-2-billion

Congress has other important things to consider, and getting agreement between the House and Senate bills would be difficult because of their differences, said Rob Atkinson.

Information Economy

Report: IT Job Growth Healthy Over Past Decade

The Daily Caller

http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/06/report-it-job-growth-healthy-over-past-decade/

Information Economy

Does IT Really Care About Big Data?

InformationWeek

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/240004863

There are rafts of surveys showing the huge market potential of big data analytics and the desire of many companies to get their hands on answers they can't get any other way.

Information Economy

Looking for Jobs? Look to IT in 2012 and Beyond

August 2, 2012

| Reports

Luke A. Stewart

Robert D. Atkinson

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This report dispels the notion that the best days for IT jobs have passed with the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the practice of off-shoring today. From 2001 to 2011, a decade characterized by recessions and jobless recoveries, over 565,000 new IT jobs were created. IT employment grew more than 95 times faster than employment as a whole, which grew by only 0.2 percent.

Ahead of Latest Jobs Data ITIF Report Shows IT Continues to be Bright Spot

WASHINGTON - In an otherwise feeble labor market information technology job growth is solid and should remain so, according to a report released today by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Coming a day before the government releases data expected to show lackluster overall job growth, the report stresses that IT's potential depends in part on policymakers committing to enhancing education and training and aggressively adopting IT in transportation, health care, and other areas. Read more »

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank at the cutting edge of designing innovation strategies and technology policies to create economic opportunities and improve quality of life in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan organization that documents the beneficial role technology plays in our lives and provides fact-based analysis and pragmatic ideas for improving technology-driven productivity, boosting competitiveness, and meeting today's global challenges through innovation. For additional information, visit ITIF at www.itif.org or contact Steve Norton at (202) 626-5758 or snorton@itif.org.

Information Economy

Mexico Hotel Giant Puts its IT in Texas

ComputerWorld

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229729/Mexico_hotel_giant_puts_its_IT_in_Texas_

Daniel Castro on international cloud policies and how countries are warning the Patriot Act is a threat to privacy and a reason not to use a U.S.-based data center.