Definition

Evolution ofthe Digital Economy

The changes Tapscott and Mesenbourg predicted in 1995 and 2001 have largely come to pass. The biggest companies today in terms of market value are tech-based global giants: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft and Facebook. Apple sells computer hardware and software. Amazon dominates ecommerce. Alphabet commands the digital communications sphere. Microsoft leads in software. And Facebook connects more than one billion people daily via its social network and many business ventures. Apple and Microsoft trace their roots back to the 1970s and the earlier ICT revolution.

Alphabet/Google and Amazon started in the 1990s and Facebook in 2004.

About 90 per cent of Canadians use the Internet every day. More than 75 per cent own a smartphone and nearly as m own a laptop. Half own a tablet and roughly the same num r own a desktop computer. Globally, about 4.39 billion people About 90 per cent of Canadians use the Internet every day. More than 75 per cent own a smartphone and nearly as many own a laptop. Half own a tablet and roughly the same number own a desktop computer. Globally, about 4.39 billion people use the Internet, or more than half the world's population. That's compared to about 2.5 million in 1990 and about 44 million in 1995. Developing countries are among the fastest growing Internet users. India, for example, added about 100 million in 2018.

As predicted, this has shifted billions of dollars from the offline economy to e-commerce. Estimates put the total amount of ecommerce in Canada at $877 million per month in 2016. By 2019, it had reached $1.5 billion a month. In 2018, about 1.8 billion people worldwide bought something online, for an ecommerce total of US$2.8 trillion. E-commerce now makes up 14.1 per cent of global retail sales. The fastest-growing online markets are in Indonesia, India, Mexico and China. As online connections strengthen, sales increase.