The rapid growth and development of the information and communication technologies has led to their wider diffusion and application, and consequently increased their economic and social impact across OECD Member countries, and beyond.

As an organisation providing economic policy advice to its Member governments, the OECD recognises that tomorrow's economy will be, to a great extent, an "information economy" and society will be increasingly an "information society".

In other words, information will contribute a great part of the value added of most goods and services and information-intensive activities will increasingly characterise households and citizens.

It is important to understand the mechanisms, trends and implications of the information society, identify the policy issues which require attention, and develop analytical tools to permit the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies. This implies the production of internationally comparable and policy relevant indicators for measuring ICT supply and demand.