Information as commodity and economic sector: Its emergence in the discourse of industrial classification

In a critical analysis of the recent development and deployment of the North American Industry Classification System, this article focuses on the discourse surrounding the creation of the systemʹs “information” category. A close reading of the relevant government documents suggests that the category functions simultaneously to position information as a major sector of the economy and to organize data about information as a commodity. The discourse also points to the continuing complexities involved in conceptualizing information as a measurable object.