It is in the industry's best interest to find these solutions. Because customers and their perception of the quality of our industry's output are of paramount and constant concern, and reputation and good name are radical absolutes in making a successful business. BSA members, as well as American businesses across the board, are engaged in remediating, upgrading or replacing their products, undertaking extensive testing of their products, and disseminating information to consumers, to ensure that date-related Y2K problems are addressed. The Technology Dividend Aided by new technologies, America's productivity is at an all-time high, Americans have access to more information than ever before, and are reaping a new world of opportunities unfathomable just a few short years ago. From the smallest town in rural America, to inner-city urban centers of our nation's great metropolises, information technologies are leading the way in bringing more, better and faster information, healthcare, education, safety and entertainment to our nation's citizens.
Technology fuels the engines that have renewed our nation.
Technology industries, such as the U.S. software industry, have brought the world a new way of doing business, new ways to enjoy our leisure and better ways to protect our health and safety. While developing the new technologies that have benefited consumers and business so well, IT industries have also benefited tremendously - giving industries like software our nation's highest job growth rates, and the ability to offer high wages and excellent benefits to our workers. By the year 2005, total direct and indirect employment will reach 3,345,000 accounting for nearly 3 percent of all U.S. employment. From 1990-1996, the software industry grew at a rate of 12.5 percent, nearly 2.5 times faster than the overall U.S. economy. In addition, the industry serves as the engine for technical progress and productivity gains in every other segment of the U.S. economy by improving worker productivity and redefining the workplace.