Socio-economic Influence on Information Technology: The Case of California

This chapter examines the influence of socio-economic factors on the employment, payroll, and number of enterprises of three technology sectors for counties in California. Based on correlation and regression analyses, the results reveal that factors that are important correlates of technology sectors are professional/scientific/technical services, other services, and educational services, ethnicity, and college education. As a whole, the findings emphasize the importance of the association of socioeconomic factors with the per capita magnitude of the technology sectors. This chapter suggests steps that can be taken by the state of California and its county and local governments to foster technology and reduce the digital divide. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.irm-press.com IRM PRESS This chapter appears in the book, Information Security and Ethics: Social and Organizational Issues edited by Marian Quigley. Copyright © 2005, IRM Press, an imprint of Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Socio-economic Influence on Information Technology 49 Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Introduction During recent years the rapid change in information technology (IT) and its impact on society have been the concern of academia, industry leaders, government officials and policy makers. There is no doubt that the impact of technology on society is profound and that it has long lasting effects financially, politically, and culturally. But the growing abundance of literature and projects concerning the social consequences of the IT and the Internet underscore the need for a better understanding of the forces at work. Technological change has been central to the U.S. economic growth and is the major force in raising the nation’s factor productivity at an accelerated rate. Information technologies (IT) are reshaping every aspect of organizations and business enterprises, such as work processes, decision-making, workforce, employment structures, teamwork, and products. “Indeed, the potential of the ICT revolution to transform the global economy has been at the centre stage in international forums and discussions...” (ILO, 2001, p. v). For companies to stay viable and competitive, adjusting to an ever-increasing pace of change is a must. The rapid development of new technologies in the information age and the unequal ability of societies across various segments to adjust to and assimilate these constant changes has been recognized as a source of problems for the old socio-economic structures because it creates potentially disruptive frictions. This information gap is expressed by the term “digital divide,” which is generally defined as “unequal access to information technology” (Light, 2001, p. 709). The effective utilization and accessibility of IT is the subject that some of the recent studies are trying to address. As Katz (2002, p. 4) puts it: “Having knowledge of what is there with no means of obtaining it or having technology but no knowledge of how to use it does not constitute access.” The continued existence of the “digital divide” and the increasing inequality of wages in the U.S. during the last two decades pose considerable challenges to policy makers. California, with its talented and diverse workforce, has a unique role in this equation. The long-term expansion of California’s high tech, even with its recent slowdown, has and will depend on its skilled workforce (CCST, 2002). It has been recognized as the leading high-tech state in the U.S. (AEA, 2001). In the year 2000, among all states, it ranked first in high-tech employment, number of high-tech industry establishments, high-tech exports, R&D expenditures, and venture capital investment (AEA, 2001). It led the nation in 23 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/socio-economic-influenceinformation-technology/23344?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-Security Technologies, Science, Engineering, and Information Technology, InfoSci-Security and Forensics, Business, Administration, and Management, Communications, Social Science, and Healthcare, InfoSci-Business and Management, InfoSci-Social Sciences and Humanities, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Select. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/?id=1