Information and communication technologies (ICT) Methods
INSTAT for measuring the level of indicators of the usage of information and communication technology conducts the survey on "Information and Communication Technology” in economic enterprises with 10 and more employed.
The term "Information and Communication Technology (ICT)" refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. The term ICT is similar to the term Information Technology (IT), but focuses on communication technologies that include the Internet, the network, mobile phones and other communication media.
The purpose of the Survey on “Information and Communication Technology” is to collect and disseminate harmonized and comparable information on the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the enterprise. For measuring the use of ICT, INSTAT interviews enterprises of all legal forms and types of ownership with 10 and more employed.
Data are collected with the yearly questionnaire "Information and Communication Technology”.
Observation unit
The observation units are enterprises with 10 and more employed that have been active in the Statistical Business Register.
Coverage
The survey covers units in the Statistical Business Register performing activities by NACE classification (NACE Rev. 2).
Section | Description |
C | Manufacturing activities |
D, E | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities |
F | Construction |
G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles |
H | Transportation and storage |
I | Accommodation and food service activities |
J | Information and communication |
L | Real estate activities |
M (Sessions 69-74) | Professional, scientific and technical activities |
N | Administrative and support service activities |
S (Sessions 95.1) | Repair of computers and communication equipment |
Methods of data collection
Data are collected by using CAPI method with face to face interviews using tablets.
The reference period for the main variables is the time of data collection. For the questions about ICT specialists and skills, Internet/EDI sales and Internet/EDI orders the reference period is the previous year.
Definitions
Computers: Including Personal Computers, portable computers, tablets, other portable devices such as Smartphone.
Internet access: The term "internet access" means having an external connection to the internet through an “internet service provider” (ISP).
Broadband are technologies or connections which enable rapid transmission of data respectively films, games, video-conferences over an Internet network (for example: ADSL, cable connection, UMTS, optical connection, VDSL, leased lines).
Website: Website is a document with hypertext, as it is shown by a web browser. Websites can have text, hypertext links, images, videos and sound
Public authority: The term public authority refers to public services and administration activities as: taxes, register of businesses, social security, etc. Public authorities can be national, regional or local.
Social media: Social media as: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube etc. are used by enterprises for connecting, creating or exchanging information via the Internet with customers, partners or among employees within the enterprise. Enterprises are using social media if they have a user profile, an account or a user license depending on the requirements and the type of social media.
EDI, EDI-type: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) refers to the structured transmission of data or documents between organizations or enterprises by electronic means. It also refers specifically to a family of standards (EDI-type) and EDI-type messages suitable for automated processing.
E-commerce: E-commerce is the sale or purchase of goods or services conducted over computer networks by methods specifically designed for the purpose of receiving or placing of orders. The payment and the delivery of the goods or services do not have to be conducted online. E-Commerce transactions exclude orders made by manually typed e-mail messages.
EDI e-commerce: Orders initiated with EDI-type messages. EDI (electronic data interchange) is an e-business tool for exchanging different kinds of business messages. EDI is here used as a generic term for sending or receiving business information in an agreed format suitable for automated processing (e.g. EDIFACT, XML, etc.) and without the individual message being manually typed.
Cloud services: Refers to information and communication technology services that are used on the Internet to access computer programs, storage capacities, etc.
Automatic information sharing within the enterprise: A software package that is used for enterprise resource planning and management by sharing information between different functional areas (eg accounting, planning, production, marketing, etc.).
CRM Software: Refers to any client information management software application.
Allocation of electronic information for supply chains: Sending / receiving of all information on supply chain (e.g. inventory levels, production plans, forecasts, delivery performance) through computer networks or websites, but it excludes manually written email messages.
3D printing: Refers to the use of special printers either by the enterprise itself or the use of 3D printing services provided by other enterprises for the creation of three-dimensional physical objects using digital technology.
Robots – Robotics: According to their intended application, robots may be industrial or service robots. An industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications. A service robot is a machine that has a degree of autonomy and is able to operate in complex and dynamic environment that may require interaction with persons, objects or other devices, excluding its use in industrial automation applications.
