本项目将新一代信息技术看作是新一轮科技革命（或第六次技术革命）对应技术体系的核心技术。以此为基准，从理论分析和经验分析两条路径，就新一代信息技术对产业结构和增长动力的影响机制和作用效果进行实证研究。一是从技术革命（重大技术变化）视角，考察新一代信息技术对产业和增长的影响；二是提炼新一代信息技术作为信息通信技术（ICT）不同于其他通用目的技术（GPT）的技术-经济特征，如渗透性、协同性等，并考察相关技术-经济特征对产业结构和增长动力的影响机制及作用效果；三是提炼新一代信息技术特有的技术-经济特征，如人工智能“发明方法的发明（IMI）”特性、大数据平台下信息要素供给的零边际成本等，进而深入研究这些特性影响宏观经济、产业结构（组织模式）的实现机制和实际效果。在上述三方面分析的基础上，界定数字经济边界范畴，并开展数字经济增加值规模及贡献测算，作为新一代信息技术及其他ICT影响经济增长的综合结果。

New Generation of Information Technology (NGIT) can be viewed as the core technology of the technological system arising from the recent Science and Technology Revolution, i.e. the Sixth Technological Revolution. This project delivers a positive study on NGIT’s influencing mechanism and impact on the industrial structure and economic growth impetus, through both theoretical and empirical analysis. Firstly, we examine NGIT’s influence on industries and economic growth from the perspective of Technological Revolution (or major technological change). Secondly, we classify NGIT as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with techno-economic features, such as pervasiveness and coordinativeness, that are different from other types of General Purpose Technology (GPT); and then discuss how such ICT features influence the industrial structure and economic growth. Thirdly, we identify NGIT’s own unique techno-economic features, such as AI serving as the “Invention for the Method of Invention (IMI)” and zero marginal cost of information supply on big data platforms; and explore how such unique NGIT features affect the macro economy and industrial structure (organizational pattern) as well as its actual effect. Following the above three aspects of analysis, efforts are made to define the scope of the digital economy and measure the scale of value added and contribution made by the digital economy, which can generally reflect NGIT’s and other ICT’s impact on economic growth.