The process of innovation, of course, is never-ending. Yet the development of the transistor after World War II appears in retrospect to have initiated an especial wave of innovative synergies. It brought us the microprocessor, the computer, satellites, and the joining of laser and fiber-optic technologies. These, in turn, fostered by the 1990s an enormous new capacity to disseminate information.
To be sure,  1  BIS Review 3/2000  innovation is not confined to information technologies. Impressive technical advances can be found in many corners of the economy. But it is information technology that defines this special period. The reason is that information innovation lies at the root of productivity and economic growth.