Explain why technological growth is crucial to economic growth and how to strengthen technological growth.

The role of information technology in economic growth

As we all know, 2 1 century has entered the era of high-speed information, and information terminals such as mobile phones and the Internet are interfering with our lives all the time. According to statistics, the number of mobile phone users in China has exceeded 500 million, and the number of netizens has reached 2 1 100 million, ranking first in the world. Such a huge information market also plays a decisive role in China's economic development.

With the in-depth development of economic globalization, the scientific and technological revolution represented by information technology has made continuous breakthroughs. Informatization has become a powerful driving force for the economic and social development of all countries, pushing human society to a new historical height at an unprecedented speed. The third wave, based on the information technology revolution, is a global wave with almost no geographical restrictions. The new economy is no longer based on traditional industries and scarce natural resources, but on high-tech industries, and the development of high-tech cannot be separated from the development of information technology.

The contribution of information technology to economic development is mainly manifested in the following aspects:

Information technology is the source of economic growth.

Some developed countries abroad have such a view on the classification of current economy: one is sunrise economy and the other is sunset economy. Most traditional industries have become sunset economy, and the main function of modern economy is the production and distribution of knowledge and information, not the production and distribution of materials. Perhaps, for some countries or enterprises, the object of future production is mainly "bytes", not products made of atoms.

Information economy is a new economic form with the rapid development of information technology since 1990s. Digital revolution, Internet, e-commerce and communication technology are playing an important role in this new economic form. It can be said that information industry is an important carrier of knowledge economy and the driving force of economic development. Information technology industry has become a new economic growth point in developed countries and an accelerator for human society to enter the era of knowledge economy.

(1) Information technology makes knowledge and information an important strategic resource of the national economy. Information technology, especially the microcomputer revolution and digital revolution, makes information resources computerized, turning vast and disorderly information into orderly, useful and economically valuable information. People can process it in any way, search and use it according to the requirements of users in any way, and get any information they need at any time and any place, thus turning information into real resources and use value, and then becoming the main economic resources of modern national economy. The application of information technology makes the role of knowledge in economy increasingly obvious. Knowledge has become the most important production factor and resource, and the most critical asset in an enterprise is not capital but intelligence. With creativity, information and technology becoming more and more components of products, the knowledge content in products and services is also increasing. The economic development and prosperity of a country will not depend on the quantity and price of natural resources and labor force to a great extent, but on its ability to create knowledge and technical level.

Facing the objective reality of the new economy, many experts and scholars put forward that information is a factor of production independent of capital and labor. Generally speaking, there are three streams in the process of economic system activities, that is, logistics composed of production materials and labor materials; Energy flow composed of labor and other energy sources; And the information flow of organization, planning, guidance, coordination, control and management to achieve certain goals. Information plays the role of the most important strategic resource here, because people can adjust the quantity, direction, speed and target of logistics and energy flow through the feedback information in the information flow. Information flow can control people and things in the economic system to do activities that conform to goals and rules. Under the condition of the same material and energy input, different information input will cause different economic effects and create different values, and the information in the economic system can be transformed into a means of value appreciation.

(2) Information technology promotes the renewal and transformation of traditional industries, thus optimizing the industrial structure. Information technology has become a powerful driving force to promote the progress of human civilization. It is creating new industries and comprehensively transforming and upgrading traditional industries. Design, manufacturing and marketing management have been or are being automated, intelligent and informationized. Computer-controlled machines and production lines replace or reduce the workload of workers and improve efficiency. The application of computer virtual technology accelerates the design and production process of products, improves the quality and reliability of products and reduces the cost. Network technology enables people's production and life to transcend the limitations of time and space, realize cross-industry, cross-regional and cross-border cooperation and integration, and gradually move towards globalization. Great changes have taken place in the mode of production and organization of industry, agriculture and service industry. This will lead to the growth of national strength, the improvement of ecological environment and the general improvement of people's living standards.

(3) Information technology has significantly improved the efficiency and benefit of the national economy. In the information age, due to the mass production of knowledge, continuous innovation, rapid transmission of information and accelerated pace of economic life, the life cycle of technology and products is increasingly shortened. In the United States, where information technology is leading, the gross national product of the United States ranks first in the world for 30 consecutive years, but the proportion of manual workers in the total labor force has dropped from 33% 30 years ago to 17%. In another 10 year, it will drop to 12%. By 2020, it will only account for less than 2%. At present, some highly automated factories almost no longer use manual workers. In fact, due to the development of information industry and information technology, since the 1990s, the United States has continuously achieved high growth, high employment and low inflation, reduced the budget deficit, lowered interest rates and maintained a stable macroeconomic environment. The annual report "Information Technology Revolution and Its Impact on American Economy" issued by the Department of Commerce of the United States federal government points out that the information technology industry is the most important driving force for the current American economic development. In the past five years, although the scale of information technology industry only accounts for 8% of the whole economy, 65,438+0/3 of the economic growth in the United States is attributed to the development of this industry. The amazing development of information technology industry has fundamentally changed the way Americans produce, consume, communicate and entertain.

Second, the construction of information industry has become the focus of economic development in various countries.

With the rapid development of global information technology, information construction has become the highlight of the national economy, and the advanced IT industry will drive the economic development of the whole country, which has been recognized by all countries in the world. Japan closely linked the success or failure of informatization, the rise and fall of IT industry and the strength of Japan's economic competitiveness, and set the goal of building a country through informatization, striving to become the most advanced IT country in the world within five years. South Korea believes that 2 1 century is an era when knowledge and information determine international competitiveness. Informatization and networking are not a matter of choice, but a fundamental plan to determine the rise and fall of a country. The European Union regards the establishment of the information society as a historic event on a par with major projects such as unifying the European market and promoting the euro.

Although informatization has become the universal demand of all countries, the informatization strategies of all countries still have their own distinct characteristics. Facts have proved that only based on the history and reality of a country or region, fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and not following the tide, can we be in an invincible position in the rolling tide.

Next, let's take a look at Finland, an example of informatization driving economic growth:

Finland is one of the countries with the highest degree of informatization in the world, and information technology has been integrated into the whole Finnish society. In recent years, Finland ranks among the best in international competitiveness evaluation. Besides the Finnish government's long-term emphasis on developing education, establishing a national science and technology innovation system and increasing investment in science and technology, it is also closely related to the wide application of information technology to improve labor productivity and promote economic development.

Finland has invested heavily in information technology since the end of 1990s, and achieved great benefits. With the wide application of information technology and the further promotion of new technologies, Finland's labor productivity is increasing at a record speed. Compared with other industrialized countries, Finland's labor productivity has improved quite rapidly, and its industrial labor productivity even exceeds that of the United States in transportation and information industries.

Investment in information technology has become the main way for Finnish enterprises to improve production efficiency. At present, 90% of Finnish enterprises have established websites on the Internet. Finnish enterprises generally believe that enterprises can obtain a lot of information about production activities and marketing through the Internet, which provides a sufficient and powerful basis for business decision-making, technological transformation, product development and sales, and greatly improves the work efficiency of enterprises. At present, all industrial enterprises in Finland have widely used computers and the Internet, and most companies and enterprises in the service industry have also begun to popularize the use of computers. With the wide application of information technology, the labor productivity of enterprises and the work efficiency of employees have increased by 8%, reaching 18%.

In the past 10 years, Finland has made great efforts to develop the information and communication industry, and at the same time, it has used information technology to transform its traditional forest industry, metal and machinery manufacturing industries, thus realizing the overall upgrading of its industrial structure. Since the 1990s, Finland's National Technology Development Center has successively coordinated and funded related enterprises and research institutions, and implemented projects such as intelligent system application plan and Finnish small and medium-sized enterprise informatization plan, which greatly promoted the information technology transformation of Finland's traditional industries and improved the overall technical level. Through the transformation of information technology, the technology intensity of Finland's forest industry, metal and machinery manufacturing industry has been strengthened, becoming a synthesis of information technology, artificial intelligence technology and automation technology, and the production efficiency has been significantly improved.

In the current situation of further intensified global competition, the Finnish government adopted a plan to further develop the information society in September 2003, aiming to further enhance Finland's international competitiveness, improve labor productivity, eliminate the gap between regions and ensure the welfare and quality of life of the whole people by making full use of information technology in the whole society.

The Finnish government strives to achieve the following goals through this plan: all citizens have the opportunity to enjoy the services provided by the information society and have the opportunity to learn and master the basic skills of using information technology; All companies, enterprises, groups and organizations in Finland can make full use of information technology to improve their services and enhance their competitiveness; Employees from all walks of life can have high-level information technology to ensure that Finland can continuously obtain high-quality labor force that can adapt to the development of the information society; Further increase investment in scientific research and product research and development to ensure that Finland continues to lead the world in the application of information technology.

III. China Information Technology Industry Strategy

The traditional information industry in China has developed with the development of the socialist market economy and the increasing demand of the national economy for new traditional information products and services. The continuous improvement of a series of national policies and regulations to promote the development of information industry, the deepening of theoretical research on information and information industry, and the continuous improvement of information industry management level have promoted the rapid development of China's information industry. At present, China's information industry is in a historical stage of vigorous development, with strong demand, rapid development, fierce competition and improved efficiency. Its multiplier effect and its important position in national economic development and social progress are increasingly prominent, and it has become a strategic industry of new economy in 2 1 century. However, we can easily find that many fields of China's information industry are not competitive internationally. In this new situation, if China wants to enter the ranks of the world's information industry powers and powers in the 2 1 century, it must take corresponding countermeasures:

(1) Carry out the policy of combining industry with informatization, study the development law of information industry and information economy, and handle the relationship between unified decision-making, multi-level hierarchical management, diversified operation and diversified operation in the development of information industry.

China is in the development stage of transition from the middle stage of industrialization to the later stage, and it is also facing the challenges and opportunities of global informatization. Developed countries have begun to transition from industrial society to information society, and the voice of "building a network society" is growing. In this case, China must not bury itself in industrialization and ignore informatization, nor can it blindly pursue informatization from the current situation of industrialization. Instead, we should implement the "opportunity strategy", combine industrialization with informatization, promote industrialization with informatization, guide industries in the new century to develop in the direction of high added value, high competitiveness and high information content, support informatization with industrialization, and provide materials, energy, capital, talents and markets for the development of information industry and the construction of information infrastructure.

(2) Analyze the domestic and international environment, pay attention to research and development, combine large enterprise groups with the liberalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, combine market mechanism with relying on policies and regulations, strengthen coordination, and adjust the direction and structure of industrial development in a timely manner.

Collect information such as technology and market, analyze environmental changes that affect the development of various parts of the information industry at home and abroad, seize opportunities, and provide reference for macro-decision-making and micro-management. This work is quite weak in China and needs to be strengthened urgently. Increase research and development expenses, strengthen research and development strength, and make enterprises gradually become the main body of research and development.

There are both competitive industries and basic industries in the information industry. For the former, it is natural to introduce a competitive mechanism. For the latter, international experience in recent years shows that introducing competition mechanism moderately is also an effective means to improve service quality and curb price increase. Industries that used to be considered as "natural monopolies" began to compete in varying degrees due to technological changes and market changes. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to use market mechanism to develop information industry. However, policies and regulations that reflect the laws of the market are also indispensable and very important. Because the government plays a more and more important role in the development of the whole information industry, without government intervention and coordination, the market will not play a positive role without negative impact. Of course, government intervention must be reasonable and coordination must be appropriate. At the same time, this kind of intervention and coordination should be timely, flexible and mobile. The consequences of any blind command are no less than market failure. The government helps rather than replaces enterprises to solve problems that enterprises can't solve. For example, point out the development direction for the industry, identify the position of the domestic industry in the global production chain, actively expand the marketing channels of the domestic industry, and lose no time to adjust the corresponding structure of the domestic industry according to the world market.

(3) From the aspects of leadership, planning, management and policies, actively strengthen the weak link of the information industry, that is, the development of the information service industry, make it adapt to the development of other parts of the information industry, and gradually play its guiding and promoting role in the information industry.

Information service industry includes database service, software service, network service, system integration service and other industries. Their position and role in the whole information industry have not been fully recognized by all walks of life in China. Other parts of the information industry have corresponding management departments, but this part is in a state of decentralized management or even unmanned management. Due to the mutual penetration and integration of various parts of the information industry, electronic industry, post and telecommunications and other departments began to extend their business scope to information application services or information value-added services, and new names such as "electronic information industry" and "information communication industry" appeared. These two departments overlapped and competed with each other in the field of data networking services. In fact, the information service industry is closely related to the electronics industry and the post and telecommunications industry, but there are obvious differences. In order to follow the development law of information service industry and promote the development of information service industry, there should be a separate management department. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen organizational leadership and unified planning. Although the Department of Long-term Planning and Industrial Policy of the State Planning Commission has done a lot of work in planning the development of the information service industry, and the China Information Association has repeatedly called for and written a report on accelerating the development of the information service industry, it has been difficult to implement it because there is no corresponding management department, national business coordination and standardized management, and policy support in investment, taxation, credit and tariffs (prices). The impact of the lagging information service industry on the national economy does not seem obvious in the short term, but the longer it takes, the more serious the consequences will be. Therefore, the management and development of information service industry must be solved as soon as possible.

(D), talent-oriented, education first, strengthen the development and utilization of human resources in the development of information industry.

In the early stage of industrialization in 1950s, China trained talents needed for industrialization on a large scale, and constantly sent talents from other fronts to the industrial front. At that time, a slogan was "building an industrial army". Then, in the initial stage of informatization, China also needs to be far-sighted and cultivate and bring up a large number of technical and management talents who need to develop the information industry for informatization. In the specialty setting of colleges and universities, departments such as information technology, information engineering, information economy and information management should be appropriately increased. All departments and units in the information industry should vigorously strengthen the on-the-job training of employees. In enterprise practice, it is necessary to discover and bring up a group of information entrepreneurs. At the same time, we should create conditions to attract overseas students to return to work, so that they can devote themselves to the development of the information industry; Reasonably adjust the flow of all kinds of talents in the information industry, so that they can better play their talents and serve the development of the information industry.

Information industry is a strategic industry in 2 1 century. Its development is not only related to profits, but also to a country's ability and position in the world economy, politics and even military affairs. We should clearly understand the laws of the times, speed up the cultivation of our own information industry and develop the information economy, so that our economy can develop healthily and rapidly and remain invincible in international competition.