COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - eEurope 2005: Benchmarking Indicators

(text with EEA relevance)

1. Introduction

In May 2002, the Commission presented the eEurope 2005 Action Plan in view of the Seville European Council. This set out policy actions for both European Institutions and Member States to accelerate the development of the Information Society in Europe. In order to monitor progress of the Action Plan, it contained proposals for a benchmarking exercise based on a set of indicators which would be proposed by the Commission and endorsed by the Council. This Communication presents the Commission's proposals for eEurope 2005 benchmarking indicators in preparation of the Telecommunications Council of 5 December 2002. The Commission invites the Council to endorse the list of indicators.

2. benchmarking: the lessons of eeurope 2002

Following the endorsement of the Action Plan by the Seville European Council, the Commission has worked with experts from Member States and candidate countries, in particular from the national statistical offices, to analyse the lessons of the eEurope 2002 benchmarking exercise and to establish principles on which the eEurope 2005 benchmarking exercise should be based. The key conclusions from these discussions are as follows:

(i) eEurope 2005 should have a limited number of policy indicators which are easy to read an understand and are linked to the policy actions of eEurope 2005, making it easier to draw attention to results. Main indicators relating to political goals should be accompanied by supplementary statistical indicators providing technical data for analysis e.g. age, gender, size, sector. 3rd country comparisons are needed to establish benchmarks and compare EU with the best in the world. Results from benchmarking are disseminated as rapidly as possible using the eEurope web site.

(ii) The present timetable for enlargement foresees the adhesion of 10 new Member States at the beginning of 2004 and benchmarking will need to take account of the needs and specificities of candidate countries, with a view to providing as comprehensive a picture as possible of developments in those countries.

(iii) Timing: The political impact of benchmarking is maximised if it can provide recent data in support of the Commission's contribution to the Spring European Council each year. It is that meeting which assesses the progress made in pursuing the goal set by the European Council in Lisbon of creating, by the end of the decade, the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy. In practice this means data must be available by November each year.

(iv) Checking: National Statistical Institutes should be given the opportunity to comment on the various surveys undertaken. Data should therefore be circulated, where possible, to the Council Working Party on Information Society Services and the Commission's ad hoc Expert Group on Benchmarking Indicators prior to release to monitor progress on the Action Plan.

(v) Sample surveys: The Eurobarometer surveys used for several eEurope 2002 indicators have the advantages of providing rapid results (within 6 weeks of survey) and of using a single methodology for all Member States. To improve quality, greater use should be made of surveys undertaken by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and Eurostat, and, where considered necessary by the Commission, additional ad hoc surveys. Candidate Countries will be invited to participate in Eurostat surveys from 2003 and additional surveys run by the Commission will be extended to candidate countries as soon as possible.

(vi) In view of policy needs and structural change, there will be a need to assess in the future the feasibility of including impact indicators.

3. eeurope 2005: proposed indicators

In the light of these guiding principles, the Commission proposes 14 policy indicators and 22 supplementary indicators along with their sources and frequency of collection. In addition, 1 policy and 3 supplementary indicators are proposed for which pilot studies need to be carried out but which should be considered for inclusion in the list of indicators at the mid-term review of eEurope in 2004.

ANNEX List of eEurope 2005 Benchmarking Indicators

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Internet indicators

A. Citizens' access to and use of the Internet

B. Enterprises' access to and use of ICTs

C. Internet access costs

Modern online public services

D. e-government

E. e-learning

F. e-health

A dynamic e-business environment

G. Buying and selling on-line

H. e-business readiness

A secure information infrastructure

I. Internet users' experience and usage regarding ICT-security

Broadband

J. Broadband penetration

Internet indicators

A. Citizens' access to and use of the Internet [1]

[1] % Households with Internet access is one of the structural indicators, agreed between Commission and Council to measure progress against the overall targets set within the Lisbon Strategy.

Policy indicators [2]:

[2] For all policy indicators, there should, if possible, be a supplementary statistical indicator providing comparable data for the USA, Japan or other leading countries.

A.1 Percentage of households or individuals having access to the Internet at home

A.2 Percentage of individuals regularly using the Internet

Definition: Population 16-74 years Regularly defined as at least weekly. Use to include all locations and methods of access. Background variables for breakdown/tables: Age, gender, employment status, education level and location (Objective 1 and non-Objective 1).

Source: Eurostat/NSI ICT household survey, data to be collected on a comparable basis

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

A.3 Percentage of households with access to the Internet broken down by device for accessing via digital TV, mobile device (include all forms of mobile access; handheld computer, mobile phone, identifying 3G (UMTS) separately when available).

A.4 Percentage of individuals with access to the Internet broken down by place of access (home, workplace, place of education, Internet cafe, PIAP etc) and by gender.

A.5 Percentage of individuals using the Internet for specific purposes (broken down by purposes: sending/receiving emails, finding information about goods and services, reading/downloading online newspapers, playing/downloading games and music, internet banking) in the previous 3 months.

A.6 Percentage of households connected in Objective 1 regions.

B. Enterprises' access to and use of ICTs

Policy indicators:

B.1 Percentage of persons employed using computers connected to the Internet, in their normal work routine.

Definition: Broken down by enterprise size (10-49; 50-249; 250+) and activity (Nace sections D, F, G, H, I, K [3]).

[3] In addition, data for Nace sections J and 92.1 (motion picture and video) plus 92.2 (television and radio) to be provided from 2004 onwards.

Sources: Eurostat/NSI ICT enterprise survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

B.2 Percentage of enterprises having access to the Internet [4]

[4] % enterprises with Internet access is one of the structural indicators, agreed between Commission and Council to measure progress against the overall targets set within the Lisbon Strategy.

B.3 Percentage of enterprises having a website/homepage

B.4 Percentage of enterprises using Intranet/Extranet

B.5 Percentage of enterprises with persons employed working part of their time [5] away from enterprise premises and accessing the enterprise's IT systems from there.

[5] Minimum of half a day a week, on average, away from work

C. Internet access costs

Policy indicator:

C.1 Costs of Internet access broken down by different frequency of use: 20, 30, 40 hrs/month, unmetered rates.

Definition: Prices to be indicated separately for xDSL, cable modem and dial-up access at peak and off-peak times; prices should include VAT.

Sources: Commission study + OECD for non-EU comparison

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

C.2 Identification of cheapest broadband access by type in each Member State

Modern online public services

D. e-government

Policy indicator:

D.1 No. of basic public services fully available [6] on-line

[6] The methodology used for collecting information on availability will be the same as that used for eEurope 2002.

Definition: 20 basic services as approved by the Internal Market/Consumers/Tourism Council of 12 March 2001 for the first eEurope benchmarking exercise.

Source: Commission study in co-operation with Member States

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

D.2 Percentage of individuals using the Internet for interacting with public authorities broken down by purpose (purposes: obtaining information, obtaining forms, returning filled in forms)

D.3 Percentage of enterprises using the Internet for interacting with public authorities broken down by purpose (purposes: obtaining information, obtaining forms, returning filled in forms)

Additional supplementary indicators to be the subject of pilot studies with a view to examination of their feasibility at the mid-term review or earlier if possible:

D.4 No. of available basic public on-line services with integrated digital back office processes

D.5 Public procurement processes that are fully carried out online (electronically integrated) in % (by value) of overall public procurement

D.6 Percentage of public authorities using open source software

E. e-learning [7]

[7] On the basis of a Commission proposal and contributions from the Member States, the Council adopted the Report on the concrete future objectives of education systems on 12 February 2001, the implementation of which will lead to definition of new indicators in this domain.

Policy indicator:

E.1 Number of pupils per computer with Internet connection (broadband/non-broadband)

Definition: Only computers used for teaching purposes to be included

Source: Commission study, Eurostat/NSI household/enterprise survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

E.2 Percentage of individuals having used the Internet in relation to training and educational purposes - broken down by: formalised educational activities (school, university etc.); post-educational courses; other courses related specifically to employment opportunities [8]

[8] An additional supplementary indicator, "percentage of people having received any training in ICT, broken down by employment status, gender, education" will be added from 2004.

E.3 Percentage of enterprises using e-learning applications for training and education of employees

F. e-health

Policy indicators:

F.1 Percentage of Population (aged 16 and over) using Internet to seek health information whether for themselves or others.

F.2 Percentage of general practitioners using electronic patient records Definition: Health information covers injury, disease and nutrition. Frequency: daily, weekly, monthly, rarely, never, Demographic data: age, gender, Breakdown between general searches and those for named practitioner online. If named practitioner, purpose of communication: make appointment, request prescription, or seek medical advice

Source: New survey, Eurostat/NIS household survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

A dynamic e-business environment

G. Buying and selling on-line

Policy indicator:

G.1 Percentage of enterprises' total turnover from e-commerce

Definition: e-commerce as defined by OECD including both broad and narrow definition. On-line buying and selling to include both via Internet and EDI. Sales should include those to business partners (B2B) and private customers (B2C) but only enterprises buying/selling more than 1% on-line to be included. Except for G.2, tables should be broken down by enterprise size by No. of employees (10-49, 50-249); 250+) and activity (NACE sections D, F, G, H, I, K)

Source: Eurostat/NSI enterprise survey/household survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary statistical indicators:

G.2 Percentage of individuals having ordered/bought goods or services for private use over the Internet in the last 3 months.

G.3 Percentage of enterprises having received orders on-line [9]G.4 Percentage of enterprises having received on-line payments for Internet sales

[9] An additional supplementary indicator, "percentage of enterprises having issued invoices on-line" will be added from 2004 when the e-invoicing Directive comes into force.

G.5 Percentage of enterprises having purchased on-line

H. e-business readiness

Policy Indicator: e-business index (composite indicator)

Definition: A mathematical function (to be defined in 2003) combining a number of key internal and external business processes, which enterprises in Member States conduct using integrated digital means.

Source: Eurostat/NSI enterprise survey

Frequency: Pilot study to be carried out in 2003, if satisfactory, annually thereafter with as reference period 1st quarter.

Components of Index :

Adoption of ICT by businessa1. Percentage of enterprises that use Internet

a2. Percentage of enterprises that have a web site / home page

a3. Percentage of enterprises that use at least two security facilities at the time of the survey

a4. Percentage of total number of persons employed using computers in their normal work routine (at least once a week)

a5. Percentage of enterprises having a broadband connection to the Internet

a6. Percentage of enterprises with a LAN and using an Intranet or Extranet

Use of ICT by businessb1. Percentage of enterprises that have purchased products / services' via the internet, EDI or any other computer mediated network where these are >1% of total purchases

b2. Percentage of enterprises that have received orders via the internet, EDI or any other computer mediated network where these are >1% of total turnover

b3. Percentage of enterprises whose IT systems for managing orders or purchases are linked automatically with other internal IT systems

b4. Percentage enterprises whose IT systems are linked automatically to IT systems of suppliers or customers outside their enterprise group

b5. Percentage of enterprises with Internet access using the internet for banking and financial services

b6. Percentage of enterprises that have sold products to other enterprises via a presence on specialised internet market places

A secure information infrastructure

I. Internet users' experience and usage regarding ICT-security

Policy indicators:

I.1 Percentage of individuals with Internet access having encountered security problems

I.2 Percentage of enterprises with Internet access having encountered security problems

Definition: Security problems defined for individuals as credit card fraud, computer viruses and abuse of personal information; and for enterprises, broken down by enterprise size (10-49; 50-249; 250+), as computer viruses, unauthorised access to systems or data and blackmail/threats against the enterprise data or software that have occurred in the last 12 months.

Source: Eurostat/NSI ICT household/enterprise survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5.

Supplementary statistical indicators:

I.3 Percentage of individuals having taken ICT security precautions [10] within the last three months

[10] "ICT security precautions" defined separately for individuals and enterprises.

I.4 Percentage of enterprises having taken ICT precautions within the last three months

I.5 Percentage of individuals and enterprises that have installed security devices on their PCs and updated them within the last three months

Broadband

J. Broadband penetration

Policy indicators:

J. 1 Percentage of enterprises with broadband access

J. 2 Percentage of households or individuals with broadband access

J. 3 Percentage of public administrations with broadband access

Definition: Broadband defined as high speed e.g. xDSL, cable, satellite, fixed-wireless, LAN and UMTS (in future). Tables to be broken down by type of entity.

Source: Commission study/ Eurostat/NSI ICT household/enterprise survey

Frequency: Annual, first deliverables October 2003, second October 2004, third October 2005, with as reference period 1st quarter 2003/4/5

Supplementary indicators:

J.4 Difference between availability and take-up of broadband Internet access broken down by type of access

J.5 Percentage of households or individuals equipped with home networking connections [11]