ICT usage in enterprises, 2009

Statistics Norway has in this survey, among other things, examined how the enterprises use homepages. The enterprises were asked if they had established a homepage and used it for the following seven purposes: Access to product catalogues, recruitment, receiving orders/reservations, providing information on privacy policy statement/security certification, personalised content, tracking of orders and personal design of products.

Services that entail active interaction between the enterprise and the customer are not common. No more than 10 per cent of the enterprises had homepages with facilities for personal adaptation of the product and tracking of orders. Fourteen per cent gave the customer a homepage with individually adapted content (recognising the customer from previous visits). A total of 40 per cent of the enterprises used the homepage for recruiting personnel, while 15 per cent issued a statement about the enterprise’s policy on privacy protection or a security certification.

New standard industrial classification

This year’s survey of ICT usage in enterprises uses Statistics Norway’s new standard industrial classification, SIC2007. Existing time series will later be recalculated in line with SIC2007 and published in the StatBank . The purpose of the new standard industrial classification is to provide better descriptions of today’s business structures than previously. Among the changes in SIC2007 are a totally new industry, Information and communication, which assembles telecommunications, IT and information services, publishing, radio and television.

In comparison to the old standard, the new standard industrial classification entails a different distribution of enterprises with an intensive utilisation of ICT. The new industry, Information and communication, stands out with many enterprises with homepages and many services provided on these homepages. Almost all enterprises in the industry have a homepage and about one third offer at least four of the services mentioned above. In this survey’s usage of the new standard industrial classification, enterprises in Banking/finance are merged with other business services. Even though banks and other financial enterprises are intensive users of ICT, the high proportions are levelled out by other enterprises.

Usage of ICT is more advanced among large enterprises than smaller. The employment size of the enterprises influences access to homepages and the intensity with which this technology is utilised. Nine out of ten enterprises with at least 100 employees have a homepage and barely 30 per cent offer at least four services. In smaller enterprises with 10-19 employees, two out of three enterprises used a homepage and at least 10 per cent included not less than four services on homepages.

There is great diversity in the services the enterprises in different employment sizes and areas of industry provide via homepages. While almost 80 per cent of the enterprises with at least 100 employees tried recruiting personnel via homepages, the proportion was only 30 per cent among enterprises with 10-19 employees. About a quarter of the enterprises in Trade with and reparation of motor vehicles made it possible for the customer to adapt or design products. The proportion was lowest in Construction. Not more than five per cent of enterprises in the industry used homepages for this purpose. About 10 per cent of enterprises with 10-19 employees presented a safety certification on their homepage compared with over one third of those with at least 100 employees. Almost 60 per cent of the enterprises in Information and communication received orders/reservations via a homepage, while the proportion was less than 20 per cent in Retail trade.

Tables:

• Table 1 Proportion of all enterprises with different types of Internet connections, by employment groups and area of industry. 2009. Per cent
• Table 2 Proportion of all enterprises which used Internet in various ways for dealing with public authorities, by employment groups and area of industry. 2008. Per cent
• Table 3 Enterprises's evaluation of the quality of public electronic services. Proportion of enterprises using Internet to communicate with public authorities (information search, downloading forms, sending in information in web format, full electronic case handling, submit a proposal in an elektronic tender system), by employment groups and area of industry. 2008. Per cent
• Table 4 Perceived advantageous effects by electronic sales, by employment groups and area of industry. Proportion of enterprises with electronic sales. 2009. Per cent
• Table 5 Perceived important barriers for electronic sales, by employment groups and area of industry. Proportion of enterprises with electronic sales. 2009. Per cent
• Table 6 Proportion of all enterprises which used RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) for various purposes, by employment groups and area of industry. 2009. Per cent