• OECD
• OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry

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19 August 2008Digital content has become an increasingly important and pervasive factor
shaping economic and social development. High-speed communications, increasing
upstream as well as downstream bandwidth, declining access prices, convergence of
previously distinct networks, innovation in new devices and applications and lower
entry barriers will drive new ways of creating, distributing, preserving, and
accessing digital content. As economies move towards being more knowledge-
intensive, information-rich activities in which content is created, collected, managed,
processed, stored, delivered, and accessed are spreading into a broad range of
industries, contributing to further innovation, growth and employment. Digital
content is becoming central in research, health, education and social services,
knowledge and cultural services and government. It is also stimulating increased
participation and creative supply by users.

Appropriate policies can increase the contribution of digital content to growth
and welfare and spread the benefits more widely. The 2004 OECD Recommendation
of the Council on Broadband Development recognised the growing role of digital
content and the Working Party on the Information Economy has undertaken
extensive analysis of digital broadband content developments and strategies and
associated policies. These principles build on this work, the conference on ?The
Future Digital Economy: Digital Content Creation, Distribution and Access? and on
national inputs.

The objective of these principles is to help provide and inform the context for
policy discussion, policy analysis, review and development. Further work will be
undertaken by the OECD and its member countries to both implement this
framework, and review and improve it in the future. A range of stakeholders have
interests in these issues. It is important to recognise and involve them in further
work to ensure that the benefits of digital content-related innovations and the wide
diffusion of content, information, and knowledge are achieved.