I suspect that data for the service sector could be even more unreliable, given the particular difficulties of measuring output and detecting underreporting. To take good decisions a policymaker needs good data. Part of the problem could lie in the fact that private parties are not allowed to compile statistics.
Some might argue, however, that the world wars were not a headwind but a boost to technological advancement. It also may be that some impediments to innovation are not endemic to the nature or science of technological progress, but instead they are created by governments and thus can be reversed.