There’s a particular uncertainty to studying genomics at its inception—especially if you’re doing so through the lens of economic data. By 1997, genomics was shedding its reputation as a purely academic pursuit, becoming a field with real commercial gravity. Still, the boundaries were fuzzy. Startups and university spinouts worked alongside established research institutes, and the […]
The mid-1990s, for anyone who cares to look closely, mark a period of unmistakable dynamism in telecommunications. Nowhere is this clearer than in the expansion of mobile phone networks, a transformation that left its mark on both developed and emerging markets. ISIC 6420—Telecommunications—serves as the formal backbone for statistical mapping. Yet, like all such systems, […]
Measuring the effects of EU single-market policies on Europe’s power sector in 1996 is an exercise in reading both what’s visible in the data and what is only partially documented. The mid-90s brought a surge of legislation and, soon after, a wave of restructuring—especially in the electricity industry. The intention was clear: break down national […]
For those interested in the digital economy’s genealogy, the year 1995 represents something of a prelude—a period dense with experimentation, hesitation, and the kind of entrepreneurial activity that would, within just a few years, become known as the dot-com boom. Yet, these early digital startups, the “precursors” to the wave of late-90s internet companies, are […]
For anyone examining the rise of the commercial internet, the story of the mid-1990s is inseparable from the invisible infrastructure that made it possible: the backbone. In 1995, the phrase “internet backbone” had a technical ring, more familiar to engineers than to the general public, but its impact was about to reshape economies. The work […]
The mid-1990s were a time of real uncertainty—and ambition—in the North American power sector. Deregulation was no longer a distant policy proposal. It was, in many states and provinces, an unfolding reality. For economists and policymakers, tracking the earliest effects of these reforms meant turning to whatever consistent datasets were available. ISIC 3510—electric power generation, […]
Charting the development of biotechnology in the mid-1990s is, for any analyst or policymaker, a challenge defined as much by the boundaries of data as by the field’s scientific frontiers. By 1994, biotech had already proven itself as more than a passing trend, yet the industry’s true contours remained elusive. ISIC 7210—research and development on […]
The early 1990s occupy a strange place in the memory of the software industry—especially for those who tracked the fortunes of multimedia. In 1993, the phrase “interactive CD-ROM” was a badge of innovation, still a few years from being supplanted by the web, but already everywhere on the lips of educators, publishers, and software developers. […]
The story of electricity reform in Latin America is, in some ways, a chronicle of ambition. In 1993, both Chile and Argentina stood as early experimenters with privatization in the power sector—steps that would later ripple across the continent. For those seeking to measure the real consequences of these reforms, ISIC 3510—electric power generation, transmission, […]
The early 1990s were formative years for the geographic information systems (GIS) industry. In 1992, GIS was at once established in certain research circles and still novel as a commercial proposition. For policymakers and analysts hoping to trace the sector’s evolution, ISIC 6201—computer programming activities—offers a place to start, but, as always, not the full […]
The years immediately following German reunification were defined by transformation on almost every front, and nowhere was this more evident than in the country’s power sector. The challenge, for anyone seeking to document the structural changes, lies in teasing out the interplay of old and new: East and West, public and private, legacy and integration. […]
The dawn of the commercial internet is, by necessity, a story built from fragments. In 1991, the notion of paying a private company for internet access was still novel, and the language to describe this new service was far from settled. Yet, even then, signs of what would become a global industry were emerging. For […]
To speak of wind power in Denmark in 1991 is, in a sense, to revisit the roots of a global shift. At the time, wind energy was still seen by many as a peripheral experiment—innovative, yes, but not yet central to national or regional energy strategies. And yet, for those reading between the lines, the […]
Desktop publishing in 1990 was both a technological revolution and an economic puzzle. For policymakers, economists, and industry watchers, measuring its growth means trying to chart the intersection of software innovation, hardware adoption, and the rapidly shifting landscape of small-scale publishing. ISIC 6201—computer programming activities—serves as the main statistical anchor, but, as usual, its breadth […]
California’s geothermal sector in 1990 stood at an inflection point—benefiting from decades of public investment, shifting regulatory landscapes, and the persistent optimism that clean energy could, and would, scale. For analysts or policymakers looking back, tracking the growth of this sector means marrying technical data with business realities. ISIC 3510—electric power generation, transmission, and distribution—serves […]
In 1989, commercial fax services sat at the crossroads of old and new modes of business communication. Before email became ubiquitous and well before broadband rendered paper transmission quaint, fax firms bridged a gap—delivering near-instant document transmission for industries that needed speed but didn’t yet trust (or have access to) digital alternatives. Tracking this sector […]