Relevance

The survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises has the aim to obtain relevant indicators on the use of information and communication technology as well as e-commerce in enterprises.  The scope of this survey is to measure progress in relationship to the digital agenda targets set for EU2020. 

It is designed to satisfy the concepts and definitions of Regulation (EC) No. 808/2004 and subsequent implementing regulations.

Methodological description of survey

For the purpose of this survey, a census of enterprises employing 10 or more persons and operating within NACE Rev. 2 Sections C to L, Divisions 69 to 74, Section N and Group 95.1 are considered.

Apart from the annual benchmarking indicators, the ICT survey incorporates an annual ad-hoc module, with the aim of measuring the introduction and progress of new technologies.

Data collection occurs during the first quarter of the reference year and asks about events occurring either in the present or in the previous year, depending on the particular question.  Enterprises receive the questionnaire by mail in February.  Non-respondents are then chased by a team of survey interviewers during the second round of data collection.

The data collected is being partly financed by a grant provided by the European Commission.

Accuracy and reliability of data

Information on the accuracy and reliability of data can be viewed in a dedicated quality report on the NSO’s metadata website.  

Timeliness and punctuality of data

A news release is published locally in the first quarter following the end of the reference year and data is transmitted to Eurostat in the fourth quarter of the reference year.

Accessibility and clarity of data     

After the collection of data, a quality report is produced and sent annually to Eurostat.  A similar report is available on the NSO’s metadata website.

The dedicated news release is made available on the NSO’s website.  Moreover, in the past, publications related to ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises were published.  These were the ‘Survey on ICT Usage of Enterprises 2003’ and ‘ICT Usage by Enterprises and Households’ for reference years 2010 and 2011.  These publications are available on the NSO’s website.

Coherence and comparability/consistency of data

The main benchmarking indicators for the digital agenda have been collected since 2005 and are consistently comparable over time.

The model questionnaire used locally is the same one used in all European Union member states. Minor differences may result from discrepancies in the survey-vehicle, in the treatment of non-response, and in the interviewing period. However, differences are minimal particularly in view of a common methodology.

ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises data collection is unique and thus cross-checking with other domains is not possible. Enterprises’ background information is comparable with other enterprise internal data included in Job Vacancies Statistics (JVS), Short-term Business Statistics (STSB), and the Business Register (BR).

​Metadata​​