The latest Domain Name Industry Brief spotlights a new study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Titled “The Internet Economy 25 Years After .com: Transforming Commerce & Life,” the study draws on a variety of research sources to gauge the commercial impact of the Internet, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the first .com domain name registration. With one in four people worldwide estimated to use the Internet today, the report measures the reach of e-commerce in solid terms. For instance, ITIF estimates that the annual global economic benefits of the commercial Internet equal $1.5 trillion — a figure that eclipses the global sales of medicine, investment in renewable energy, and government investment in R&D, combined. ITIF also estimates that, assuming e-commerce continues to grow just half as fast as it grew between 2005 and 2010, then by 2020, it will add $3.8 trillion to the global economy.

The far-reaching ITIF report also provides a snapshot of Internet use and its expanding influence on people throughout the world. Among its findings: 

• In Europe, the percentage of online shoppers grew by 85 percent between 2004 and 2009.
• Experience with online shopping in developing countries is rapidly catching up with that seen in more developed regions. Sixty-three percent of Internet users in Latin American and 70 percent of users in Asia Pacific countries have made at least one purchase online, for example, compared to 85 percent of Internet users in North America and Europe.
• Although online commerce is becoming commonplace worldwide, it’s still more popular in some countries than others. In assessing 30 nations, ITIF found Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States lead the rest of the world in shopping, selling, and doing business online.
• The country with the highest percentage of adult citizens who have shopped online is Japan, with 52 percent.

“As the ITIF study affirms, the commercial Internet has been a transformational force in the world for the past quarter century,” said Raynor Dahlquist, senior vice president of Naming Services at VeriSign. “To ensure it continues to drive the evolution of entire industries, it’s vital to make strategic and continuous investments in the Internet infrastructure. With Project Apollo, VeriSign is building the infrastructure it believes is essential to manage the Internet’s next wave of growth.”

VeriSign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief to provide Internet users throughout the world with significant statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry and the Internet as a whole. Copies of the 2010 first quarter Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained here.