Globally Connected, Locally Delivered: The Economic Impact of Cross-Border ICT Services

Summary

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce commissioned Spire Research and Consulting to create a model in order to quantify the economic impact of full liberalisation of cross-border ICT services and rules globally by creating an open, competitive marketplace.

Removing these barriers presents a clear path for governments to jump start their economies on a path towards increased jobs and growth. Business of all sectors and sizes will benefit from more cost-effective ICT solutions and the ability to safely and seamlessly move data. In fact, the study indicates creating a positive policy environment leads to an opportunity to realise hundreds of billions of dollars of GDP increases, billions of dollars in potential new government revenues, millions of new jobs, and hundreds of thousands of new businesses.

The economic model created as part of this study found that an open policy and regulatory environment that facilitates cross-border delivery of ICT services will generate significant cost savings, spur the development of new business boosting jobs, and ultimately add to the overall growth of the economy for those countries studied. In order to better demonstrate that both end users and providers are winners in an open ICT services environment, the study examines a group of eight globally important markets from a diverse range of economic development, including Brazil, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Turkey, and Vietnam. Our findings demonstrate across the board benefits.