Digital Economy and Society Index 1 2015 2 In DESI 2015, the has an overall 3 of 0.47 and s th out of the 28 Member States. citizens have a good level of digital skills (76% go online regularly, 57% have at least basic digital skills). As a result, they engage in a wide variety of online activities. internet users are quite keen on online banking () and on online shopping (52%). SMEs are leaders in selling on-line; they also lead the s in turnover from online sales. However, the is below average in the provision of sophisticated digital public services, which is its main challenge to progress further in the digital economy, as illustrated by the fact that only 14% of internet users exchanged filled-in forms with the public administration online (26 th position). The falls into the cluster of low-performance 4 countries, where it performs above average. Country Profile DESI 2015 0.47 0.39 0.48 DESI 2014 0.43 0.33 0.45 1 The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is a composite index developed by the European Commission (DG CNECT) to assess the development of countries towards a digital economy and society. It aggregates a set of relevant indicators structured around 5 dimensions: Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet, Integration of Digital Technology and Digital Public Services. For more information about the DESI please refer to http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/digital-agenda-board 2 The DESI 2015 is constructed from indicators referring mostly to the calendar year 2014 (except when data is not available for that calendar year, in which case the latest prior data was used). 3 DESI s range from 0 to 1, the higher the the better the country performance. 4 In the DESI 2015, the low-performance cluster of countries comprises Bulgaria, Cyprus,, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
1 Connectivity 1 Connectivity DESI 2015 15 0.58 0.48 0.56 DESI 2014 16 0.49 0.39 0.51 In the Connectivity dimension the performs slightly above European average. The country s 15 th among countries with an overall Connectivity of 0.58, up from 0.49 a year ago, thanks to progress in the take up of broadband, fixed and mobile. 1a1 Fixed BB Coverage % households 1a2 Fixed BB Take-up % households 1b1 Mobile BB Take-up Subscribers per 100 people 1b2 Spectrum % of the target for spectrum to be harmonised at level 1c1 NGA Coverage % households, out of all households 1c2 Subscriptions to Fast BB % of subscriptions >= 30Mbps, out of fixed BB subscriptions 1d1 Fixed BB Price % individual gross income spent for the cheapest standalone Fixed Broadband subscription (lower values are better) value value value 14 98% 97% 14 98% 76% 64 67% 26% 1.2% 8 23 22 18 11 66% 52 64% 24% 1.9% 12 19 20 21 15 18 70% 72 70% 68% 26% 1.4% At the end of 2014, coverage of fixed broadband in the was almost complete, as broadband networks were available to 98% of homes (97% in the ). In rural areas, fixed broadband covered 91% of homes. At the same time, Next Generation Access capable of providing at least 30 Mbps download was available to 67% of homes (68% in the ). In 2014 the featured significant progress in the take up of fixed broadband (from 66% to 76% of households, above the European average). About a quarter of these subscriptions are high speed (providing at least 30 Mbps). On the mobile side, 4th generation (LTE) was available to 12% of population. The take-up rate (subscription per 100 people) of mobile broadband also increased significantly, from 52 to 64 subscribers per 100 people. The s relatively low in the share of harmonised spectrum, apparently because there is little market demand by mobile operators. DESI 2015 Country Profile Page 2 of 6
2 Human Capital 2 Human Capital DESI 2015 13 0.54 0.42 0.54 DESI 2014 14 0.51 0.35 0.52 In the dimension Human Capital of DESI 2015, the performs fairly. With a of 0.54, the country improved its position among countries to 13 th (from 14 th in the last year). 2a1 Internet Users % individuals (aged 16-74) 2a2 Basic Digital Skills % individuals (aged 16-74) 2b1 ICT Specialists % employed individuals 2b2 STEM Graduates Graduates in STEM per 1000 individuals (aged 20 to 29) value value value 70% 75% 14 16 76% 57% 2.9% 13 13 52% 2.9% 18 13 13 59% 2.8% The share of regular Internet users in the (76% of citizens) grew from the previous year and is now just around the average. With 57% of the population possessing at least basic digital skills, the country stands slightly below the average. On the other hand, the has a share of ICT specialists 5 in the workforce that is slightly above the average. As for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates, with per 1000 aged 20-29 years old holding this type of degree, the country performs exactly at the average. 5 Broad definition taken from JRC (IPTS) "The evolution of ICT employment 2000-2012" Technical report (forthcoming): ISCO codes 25 and 35, plus ICT graduates in certain adjacent ISCO codes. DESI 2015 Country Profile Page 3 of 6
3 Use of Internet 3 Use of Internet DESI 2015 18 0.42 0.4 0.43 DESI 2014 18 0.39 0.34 0.41 In terms of the propensity of individuals to use Internet services, the s 0.42 (up from 0.39 last year) and s 18 th among countries (maintaining the position from previous year). The use of internet by the s is still growing and is approaching the average. 3a1 News 3a2 Music, Videos and Games 3a3 Video on Demand % households that have a TV 3b1 Video Calls 3b2 Social Networks 3c1 Banking 3c2 Shopping % individuals who used Internet in the last year (aged 16-74) Value value Value 85% 67% 5 4 86% 57% 8.7% 45% 50% 52% 8 27 10 26 34% 9% 53% 49% 56% 48% 27 25 6 26 15 16 49% 41% 37% 57% 63% Internet users engage in a broad range of online activities. They read the news online (86%), listen to music, watch films and play games online (57%), use the Internet to communicate through social networks (50%). On the other hand, still far less common is to obtain video content using broadband connections. Internet users are also quite keen on the use of online banking () and on online shopping (52%) too. DESI 2015 Country Profile Page 4 of 6
4 Integration of Digital Technology 4 Integration of Digital Technology DESI 2015 9 0.39 0.27 0.33 DESI 2014 11 0.36 0.24 0.3 Integration of Digital Technology by businesses is the DESI 2015 dimension where the performs best. The s 0.39 and s 9 th among countries. businesses exploit well most of the possibilities offered by on-line commerce and technologies such as electronic information sharing (ERP). 4a1 Electronic Information Sharing 4a2 RFID 4a3 Social Media 4a4 einvoices 4a5 Cloud 4b1 SMEs Selling Online % SMEs (no financial sector, 10+ employees) 4b2 ecommerce Turnover % turnover of SMEs (no financial sector, 10-249 employees) 4b3 Selling Online Cross-border % SMEs (no financial sector, 10+ employees) value value value 23% 31% 20 20 28% 1.3% 28 n.a. - 8.9% 26% 18% 12% 9 1 1 4 0.98% (2011) 6.4% 25 27 14 16 n.a. - 25% 15% 12% 2 1 4 3.8% 14% 15% 8.8% 6.5% The SMEs are leaders in selling on-line; they also lead the s in terms of the turnover from online sales. They are relatively strong in selling on-line to other member states (12%, compared to the average of 6.5%). This means that businesses take good advantage of the possibilities and benefits offered by digital technologies, both to improve their efficiency and productivity as well as to access wider markets. The use of digital technologies is an important driver of labour productivity growth. businesses perform near to the average in use of electronic information sharing (ERP) and einvoices. On the other hand, the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID, 1.3%) and of cloud services (8.9%) are both below the average. DESI 2015 Country Profile Page 5 of 6
5 Digital Public Services 5 Digital Public Services DESI 2015 25 0.3 0.34 0.47 DESI 2014 23 0.3 0.33 0.45 In the Digital Public Services dimension the s 0.3, its worst among the five DESI 2015 dimensions. It s 25 th among the countries. There are significant shortcomings especially on the supply-side of digital public services. 5a1 egovernment Users % individuals returning filled forms, out of Internet users in the last year (aged 16-74) 5a2 Pre-filled Forms Score (0 to 100) 5a3 Online Service Completion Score (0 to 100) 5a4 Open Data Score (0 to 700) 5b1 Medical Data Exchange % General Practitioners 5b2 eprescription % General Practitioners Value value value 14% 28 58 290 23% 7.8% 26 23 16 9.1% 27 19 n.a. - 56 23 20 n.a. - 23% 7.8% 16 33% 45 75 378 36% 27% Modern public services offered online in an efficient manner are a vehicle to reduce public spending and ensure efficiency gains for enterprises, citizens and the public administration itself. The faces a key challenge in online public services. Its indicator s 6 place it below average and show that the level of sophistication of its services needs to improve. Better online public services are also likely to improve the use of services by citizens, as only 14% of internet users have engaged with the public administration sending filled-in forms. The efficiency and degree of service offered the by health systems can be greatly improved through digitisation. The performance of the s in ehealth can progress for example by encouraging a greater adoption of medical data exchange (23% of general practitioners exchange medical data electronically, versus 36% in the ). This holds even more true for a weak use of eprescription, where the fact that only 7.8% of its general practitioners transfer prescriptions to pharmacists electronically makes it th among countries. 6 28/100 in the Pre-filled Forms indicator (measuring the extent to which data that is already known to the public administration is pre-filled in the forms that are presented to the user), and of 58/100 in the Online Service Completion indicator (measuring the extent to which the various steps in an interaction with the public administration life event can be performed completely online). DESI 2015 Country Profile Page 6 of 6