What Is the Information Industry?

The information industry is a broad economic sector encompassing the organizations and activities involved in creating, processing, storing, transmitting, and distributing information and information-technology products and services. It includes hardware manufacturing, software development, telecommunications, data services, publishing, and broadcasting. The OECD formally defines information industries as the combination of the ICT sector and the content and media sector, using the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) to provide a common statistical framework for cross-country comparisons. As a sector, it spans both tangible goods, such as semiconductors and networking equipment, and intangible services, such as cloud computing, software subscriptions, and digital media.

The sector occupies a central position in modern economies. In the United States, computer and information technology occupations tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show projected employment growth well above the average for all occupations, with median annual wages roughly double those of the overall workforce. This reflects the dual role of the information industry: it both produces technology products consumed by other industries and delivers services that increase productivity across the entire economy.

Scope and Structure

The OECD's classification divides information industries into three main segments. The ICT manufacturing segment covers the production of computers, electronic components, optical instruments, and telecommunications equipment. The ICT services segment covers telecommunications, computer programming, data processing, and information service activities. The content and media segment covers publishing, broadcasting, and online content platforms. A detailed OECD publication on information industry definitions provides the full ISIC Rev. 5 mappings, showing how national statistical agencies can consistently classify firms and employment across all three segments. These boundaries are deliberately drawn to capture the full chain from physical device production through content delivery, since the segments are economically interdependent.

Platform Economics and Digital Transformation

Within the information industry, platform firms have become structurally dominant. Platform businesses connect multiple user groups, such as advertisers, consumers, and developers, through a shared digital infrastructure, generating value from network effects rather than from the marginal cost of producing goods. Search engines, social media platforms, and app stores all follow this model. The OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024 documents how platform concentration, digital trade, and data flows are reshaping the ICT sector's contribution to GDP across member countries. The shift from product licensing to subscription services and from on-premises infrastructure to cloud computing has redistributed revenue within the sector, accelerating growth in managed services and data analytics while contracting traditional hardware and packaged software markets.

Workforce and Occupations

Employment in the information industry is concentrated in software development, systems analysis, data engineering, network administration, and cybersecurity. The sector employs a mix of credentialed engineers, computer scientists, and self-taught practitioners, and it has historically absorbed workers faster than the educational pipeline produces them. Demand for skills in machine learning, cloud infrastructure, and information security has grown particularly rapidly. Because many information industry products are non-rival, meaning that a software program can be used by many people simultaneously without being depleted, the sector exhibits higher output-per-worker ratios than most manufacturing industries and strong returns to scale in R&D investment.

Applications

The information industry has applications in and supports a wide range of fields, including:

• Healthcare, delivering electronic health records, medical imaging software, and telemedicine platforms
• Financial services, providing trading systems, fraud detection, and digital payment infrastructure
• Manufacturing, through industrial automation, supply chain software, and product lifecycle management
• Education, through learning management systems, digital content, and remote instruction platforms
• Government and public administration, including digital services, data analytics, and cybersecurity infrastructure