Measuring the Digital Economy - Parliamentary Days 2015

Editor's Notes

• #3: The digital economy is everywhere and calls today for new evidence and sound measurement to support policy making. Measuring the Digital Economy uncovers trends in the digital economy using available, and sound, metrics, identifies gaps, and proposes actions to improve the measurement infrastructure. I will now skim through some of the stories that emerge from the indicators, before coming back to the areas where we see the policy rubber meeting the road. I’ll show you indicators from five areas: Mobile broadband Applications Usage rates ICT industry performance And skills
• #5: The mobile broadband revolution Wireless broadband subscriptions increased by over 2-fold in just 4 yrs: from 250 million to 850 million By December 2013 almost 3 out of 4 individuals in the OECD had a subscription (72% is the OECD average) In Japan, Finland and Australia penetration rates are over 100 per cent
• #6: The mobile revolution Sales of smartphones have increased almost 5 times in just 3 yrs and now exceed sales of standard phones. They have significant computing power and functionality: touch screens, location and speed sensors, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity for data transmission, etc
• #7: On the left you can see that the higher the percentage of Internet users in a country - the greater the number of devices per user. If you take France as an example, more than 80% of the population uses the Internet, and on average Internet users have just under two devices that they use to access the Internet. On the right hand side you see the devices they use. Taking France again, you see 16% of users access the Internet through tablets, 37% through smartphones, 52% through desktop computers and 66% through laptops.
• #9: Differences in speed levels are important for customers and in 2013 they ranged between over 70% and less than 2% in OECD countries. E.g. high speed broadband subscribers (above 10 Mbit/s) can download a high quality movie in less than 22 minutes, it takes a low-speed subscribers about 52 minutes to download the same movie Users in Korea and in Japan are recorded as having the highest speed levels (above 10 Mbit/s) [Korea = 71% of fixed broadband subscribers; Japan = 47%]
• #10: No. of Internet users in OECD: from fewer than 60% of adults in 2005 to about 80% in 2013, reaching 95% for young people (16-24 yrs old)
• #11: Differences among countries are still large, Internet use is above 90% in Iceland, Nordic countries, Netherlands and Switzerland, but less than 60% at the lower range. These differences are wider for older generations : 75% at the upper end and 10% at the lower end. Btw did you know that on average 15 yrs olds in the OECD spend about 3 hrs a day on the Internet in a typical weekday? The near future will see a narrowing of these gaps as usage reaches saturation and today’s digital natives become adults
• #12: Over 2012-2013, on average 60% of Internet users participated in social networks, while less than 30% send filled forms to public administrations and only 20% sold products online The breadth of activities performed online is related to rates of Internet usage (the higher the Internet uptake the more activities people engage in) and education levels.
• #13: There are differences between countries in Internet usage, but the differences are more marked if you look by age group. Over 75% of 55-74 year-olds in Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported using the Internet against less than 10% in Mexico and Turkey.
• #14: Between 2007 and 2013: individuals purchasing online increased from 31% to almost 50% of the adult population In businesses a less striking increase: 21% of enterprises with more than 10 employees Age of individuals and size of business matters [reference: wholesale & retail share in total industry value added: Japan: 15% in 1995-14.5% in 2012; US: 13.3% in 1995-11.6% in 2012]
• #15: There are differences between countries in Internet usage, but the differences are more marked if you look by age group. Over 75% of 55-74 year-olds in Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported using the Internet against less than 10% in Mexico and Turkey.
• #17: In 2013 almost all enterprises in OECD had a broadband connection (94% - reaching saturation) and three-quarters had websites. But on average only 20% were selling online
• #18: Between 2007 and 2013: individuals purchasing online increased from 31% to almost 50% of the adult population In businesses a less striking increase: 21% of enterprises with more than 10 employees Age of individuals and size of business matters [reference: wholesale & retail share in total industry value added: Japan: 15% in 1995-14.5% in 2012; US: 13.3% in 1995-11.6% in 2012]
• #19: The overall economic relevance of e-business transactions, measured by the share of e-commerce sales in turnover, stands at about 16% of total turnover on average in reporting countries. Up to about 90% of the value of e-commerce comes from B2B transactions. Results are dominated by the economic weight of large enterprises. Big firms see around 20% of their turnover as e-commerce sales represent, against 7% for small firms. Interestingly the percentage of turnover from e-commerce fell in a number of countries during the period, which coincides with the crisis, perhaps suggesting the kinds of things purchased online are more discretionary.
• #21: But all this connectivity can create new challenges for the protection of sensitive data and network communications. One major security issue is denial-of-service attacks, where the attackers aim to make machines or network resources unavailable by interrupting or suspending the services of a host connected to the Internet (websites, Internet services or whole network). In general, large enterprises are more prone to DoS attacks. Differences across economies are significant, but are difficult to explain. The share of enterprises suffering from DoS attacks in 2010-12 was 1% or below in Hungary, Japan and New Zealand, but above 10% in the Slovak Republic and in fact closer to 20% for big firms.
• #22: The importance of trust increases with online shopping, as this is more prone to uncertainty and risk than traditional shopping. Consumers worry about their privacy – providing personal details over the Internet And security – providing credit card details. In 2009, security was cited as the main reason for not buying online for over one-third of Internet users in the European Union who had not made any purchases online. You can see though that consumers in some countries are not much concerned with privacy and security issues – in the Czech Republic, less than 3% of Internet users who did not make online purchases cited security concerns, and the figure was similar for privacy concerns. This raises interesting questions about the regulatory arrangements in different countries, as well as cultural attitudes.
• #23: In 2013 more than 60% of the EU labour force reported their computer skills as being insufficient to apply for a new job – look at the impact of the education bonus (differences across countries tend to disappear)
• #24: Education and labour policies play a crucial role in the acquisition of ICT skills Results from the first OECD Programme for the international assessment of Adult competences (PIAAC) show important differences across countries in terms of computer use at work (range between 80% and 45% in the chart shown) The share of workers experiencing complex use varies b/w 8% and 3% in the chart shown * complex use entails programming skills
• #26: Between 2009 and 2012 (crisis years) net business population growth in the ICT sector was about 4.5% on average as compared to 1% in the business economy overall New ICT enterprises have also higher survival rates than their counterparts in manufacturing and services * business population growth (change in the population of active enterprises) ** total business economy (all sectors except agriculture, public services and activities of holding companies)
• #27: Employment in the ICT sector grows at higher rates than the whole economy during business cycle upturns but also suffers more pronounced downswings Despite the dynamism of the sector, employment in ICT industries never regained the 2001 peak of 4.1% of total employment and remained just below 3.8% in 2012. These trends reflect a downsizing of manufacturing and telecom services and the dynamism of IT services