14/10/2005

The results of the first comprehensive measurement of information and communication technologies indicators, based on a common European approach, were presented by the Observatory on the Information Society on 11 October 2005 in Athens.

The measurement included 16 basic and 26 supplementary indicators of the European eEurope policy on new technologies in Households, Businesses, e-Government, e-Learning, e-Health and Connection Costs. The study was conducted in collaboration with the firm Opinion, and included 8,331 households and 1,368 businesses throughout Greece. The study's basic conclusions are the following:

- Internet use remains low compared to the rest of Europe: almost 1 in 5 Greeks (20.8%) uses the Internet, while only 17.9% of the population use it regularly (at least once every week). A higher percentage of access was observed in younger age groups and in residents of urban centres with secondary and higher education.

- Penetration of broadband Internet is at a very low level (1%) and its high cost prevents wider and faster penetration.

- Greeks use the Internet to seek information and compare products and prices (84% of users routinely seek information on products and services). A critical mass of consumers (5% of the population in the last quarter) order and buy products and services for private use over the Internet. With regard to businesses, only 0.15% of their turnover comes from electronic commerce.

- Internet use is very widespread in businesses and among employees. Specifically, 92.8% of businesses with more than 10 employees have Internet access, with the relevant rate for smaller businesses being 38%

.

- The percentage of government services, which are fully available in electronic form, is very low (25%). The rate of electronic transactions with government services is 8% for the general population, 80% for businesses with more than 10 employees, and 11% for smaller businesses.

The Observatory has also collected more than 300 studies concerning new technologies, classified by subject and geographical area and organised in an electronic library. These studies will be made available gradually to citizens and businesses.

The measurement of the eEurope indicators is available on the Observatory's web site.

Source: Observatory on the Information Society