Enterprises making slow progress in adopting ICT for e-business integration : ICT usage in enterprises 2012.
Date: 2013-02-27
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, electronic commerce, information technology, small and medium-sized enterprises

Industry, trade and services 

Authors:  Konstantinos GIANNAKOURIS, 

Maria SMIHILY 

S t a t i s t i c s   i n   f o c u s  
6/2013 

Enterprises making slow progress in adopting ICT for 
e-business integration 
ICT usage in enterprises 2012 
Information and Communication Technologies 
(ICT) have fast become an integral part of EU 
enterprises. The extensive and intensive use of 
ICT, combined with new ways of accessing and 
using the Internet efficiently, characterise what 
we refer to as the electronic economy 
(e-economy).  

communication, share information with business 
partners and communicate with customers. In this 
context, e-economy includes both electronic 
business (e-business) and electronic commerce 
(e-commerce).  

The former refers to the use of ICT in business 
processes and is the subject of this publication, 
while the latter refers to commercial transactions 
for either goods or services. 

These driving forces are decisive for the way that 
enterprises run their business, organise internal 

Figure 1: Adoption of e-business technologies in enterprises, EU27, 2010 and 2012 
(% of enterprises) 

100

94

95

80

60

40

20

0

71

67

50

53

21

22

23

18

24

26

Internet access

Website

Sharing information
electronically within the
enterprise

Use of Enterprise
Resource Planning
(ERP)

Business processes
linked to those of
suppliers/customers
(Supply Chain
Management)

Use of Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM)

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ci_in_en2, isoc_ci_it_en2, isoc_bde15dip) 

2010

2012

Adoption of e-business: highlights 
• The percentage of EU enterprises with Internet 
access seems to have reached saturation level in 
2012 (95 %).  

• The percentage of EU enterprises having a 
website (71 %) can be expected to grow. 

• The gap between small and large enterprises is 

reportedly bigger for those using more advanced 
ICT applications than for those with a website. 
The percentage of enterprises with a website 
ranged from 68 % for small enterprises to 93 % 

for large enterprises, but from 18 % to 68 % 
respectively for those using Enterprise Resource 
Planning (ERP). 

• Enterprises in the accommodation sector reported 
using Customer Relationship Management 
(CRM) for marketing as much as for operational 
purposes (33 % for both). 

• Some 40 % of EU enterprises that recruited or 

tried to recruit ICT specialists in 2011 reported 
having difficulties in filling vacancies. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 1: Enterprises adopting technologies for e-business, 2010 and 2012 
(% of enterprises)  

Internet access

Website

Sharing information 
electronically 
within 
the enterprise

Use of Enterprise 
Resource 
Planning (ERP)

Business processes 
linked to those of 
suppliers/customers
(Supply Chain 
Management)

Use of Customer 
Relationship 
Management (CRM)

EU27
BE
BG
CZ
DK
DE
EE
IE
EL
ES
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU
MT
NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK
IS
NO
HR
MK
TR

2010
94
97
85
95
97
97
96
92
90
97
97
94
88
91
96
96
90
94
98
97
96
94
79
97
98
100
96
91
98
97
95
84
91

2012
95
97
87
97
99
97
96
94
91
96
99
96
95
91
100
98
89
95
100
98
93
95
79
98
98
100
98
94
99
97
96
88
:

2010
67
78
37
74
88
81
70
68
58
62
58
61
52
48
65
70
57
66
81
80
65
52
35
73
74
87
89
76
77
78
61
43
53

2012
71
76
43
80
89
82
75
74
64
68
64
65
60
53
71
77
62
73
84
82
68
52
36
77
76
91
89
81
84
79
65
48
:

2010
50
70
39
49
60
58
48
63
59
61
50
52
55
48
31
55
33
58
55
67
30
60
39
51
59
62
61
32
50
72
51
38
48

2012
53
64
48
56
63
53
48
62
:
59
57
61
60
55
41
53
38
60
57
70
32
62
39
58
58
62
63
44
56
72
58
47
:

2010
21
40
11
21
29
29
7
20
36
22
24
22
17
8
11
21
8
18
22
25
11
26
19
21
17
28
35
6
10
19
15
9
15

2012
22
33
20
24
33
24
10
19
:
22
33
21
21
10
23
23
9
24
26
26
13
31
20
28
20
33
38
9
14
20
19
13
:

2010
18
34
18
15
17
26
11
13
21
17
13
22
8
34
34
27
11
23
5
14
17
40
13
19
27
20
27
7
7
25
53
:
16

2012
23
32
31
15
21
23
15
17
25
21
13
23
16
43
37
31
11
20
15
22
25
51
14
24
39
27
31
26
14
33
47
33
:

2010
24
43
12
15
24
42
10
24
18
28
19
21
23
12
14
25
9
20
19
41
16
19
18
15
26
34
36
13
20
35
17
13
31

2012
26
38
16
19
28
39
11
28
:
28
26
25
24
14
16
24
10
21
29
41
17
23
17
23
20
34
36
17
19
32
20
16
:

Figures on Supply Chain Management (SCM) refer to business processes linked to those of either suppliers or customers 

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ci_in_en2, isoc_ci_it_en2, isoc_bde15dip)  

Figure 2: Enterprises adopting technologies for e-business, by size class, EU27, 2012 
(% of enterprises) 

93

86

68

EU27 71%

88

73

49

EU27 53%

100

95

99

100

EU27 95%

80

60

40

20

0

68

44

18

46

31

20

EU27 22%

EU27 23%

52

39

23

EU27 26%

Internet access

Website

Sharing information
electronically within the
enterprise

Use of Enterprise
Resource Planning
(ERP)

Business processes
linked to those of
suppliers/customers
(Supply Chain
Management)

Use of Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM)

Small Medium Large

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ci_in_en2, isoc_ci_it_en2, isoc_bde15dip) 

2 

6/2013 — Statistics in focus  

 
 
 
 
 
 
Internet access reached saturation level while use of websites is still growing 

Access to the Internet is the cornerstone for 
e-business because of its limitless capacities for 
connecting persons and enterprises worldwide. 

Figure 3: Enterprises with Internet access, 
2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27: 95%

IS

LT NL

FI

RO

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_ci_in_en2) 

The percentage of EU enterprises that used 
computers and had Internet access seems to have 
reached saturation level. In 2012, 95 % of 
enterprises had access to the Internet, a marginal 
increase (+1 pp) compared with 2010. The share of 
enterprises that had Internet access was similar in 
most countries. In 19 out of 27 EU countries, 95 % 
or more of enterprises reported having Internet 
access. 

The adoption of ICT can be represented by an 
S-shaped curve of cumulated adopters. Cumulative 
adoption rates (% enterprises) progress slowly at 
first, then start accelerating and finally slow down 
and stabilise as they approach saturation point. 

In this article, S-shaped figures are used for 
illustration purposes and refer to a theoretical 
course of evolution. In the theoretical adoption 
model represented by the S-shaped curves, the time 
dimension is not included, indicating that the 
respective countries may progress at different 
speeds. As shown in Figure 3, the cumulative rates 
of enterprises with Internet access undergo a period 
of rapid acceleration, then deceleration and finally 

saturation, already reported to be at 100 % in 
certain countries.  

Concerning staff employed in enterprises with 10 
or more employees, 53 % used computers, and 
45 % used computers with access to the Internet. 
For both, a small increase was reported compared 
with 2010, +1 pp and +2 pp respectively. 

Additionally, enterprises consider it important to be 
visible on the Internet. Consequently, enterprises’ 
websites increasingly offer various functionalities, 
such as online ordering, product catalogues and 
information, order tracking, customisation of 
products, links to social media etc. Importantly, the 
use of a website involves a more active role than 
just having an Internet connection. Some 71 % of 
enterprises reported having a website. An increase 
can be observed compared with 2010 (+4 pp). 

Figure 4 shows that although almost all countries 
appear to be in the progressing phase of having a 
website, the cumulative adoption rates grow at a 
slower pace as they approach a theoretical 
saturation point. 

Figure 4: Enterprises with a website, 2012, 
(% of enterprises) 

SE

FI

EU27: 71%

LV

CY

TK

PT
MK

BG

RO

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_ci_it_en2) 

Table 2: Persons using computers and accessing the Internet, by enterprise size class, 
EU27, 2010 and 2012 (% of persons employed) 

All enterprises
2010
2012

Small

Medium

Large

2010

2012

2010

2012

2010

2012

Persons employed using computers

Persons employed using computers
with access to the Internet

52

43

53

45

44

39

47

42

50

43

52

45

57

45

58

48

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15b_p) 

  Statistics in focus — 6/2013 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
One in five enterprises uses Enterprise Resource Planning software applications 

Enterprises’ internal e-business integration refers 
to sharing information electronically and 
automatically between different business functions 
within an enterprise as opposed to external 
integration, in which other business partners are 
involved. Internal integration potentially 
streamlines and boosts the efficiency of an 
enterprise. 

Integration is implemented in various forms. One 
of them is data-linking between various software 
applications, using a common database. The use of 
a single modular software application, Enterprise 
Resource Planning (ERP), is another commonly-
used alternative. 

ERP software applications aim to facilitate the flow 
of information and the potential to integrate 
internal and external management information 
across several functions of an enterprise. A 
characteristic of ERP is that it is delivered in 
‘modules’ that typically integrate processes 
relevant to planning, purchases, marketing, sales, 
customer relationship, finance and human 
resources. 

The percentage of EU enterprises that used ERP 
software applications reached 22 % in 2012, with a 
marginal increase (+1 pp) compared with 2010. 
Some progress can be expected in the adoption of 
ERP, particularly among small enterprises (18 %). 

In most countries, enterprises reported increases in 
the use of ERP. However, there may be differences 
in the understanding of ERP as the ‘enterprise-wide 
information management system’,  due to various 
country-specific implementations and 
customisation of ERP packages. Consequently, 
respondents were asked to report explicitly on 
whether they shared information, electronically and 
automatically, between specific front-office 
business functions such as sales and purchases 
(contacts with customers and suppliers), and the 
four important back-office business functions: 
• 
• 
• 
• 

management of the distribution of goods. 

production or services management,  

management of inventory levels, 

accounting, 

In a wider context of e-business integration, one 
out of two enterprises (53 %) shared information, 
related to sales or purchases, between any business 
function. This included the use of ERP or other 
software applications as for example for managing 
information about their customers. Compared with 
2010 a small increase (+ 3 pp) was observed. 

Sharing information on sales orders 

When an enterprise receives an order for selling 
goods or for providing services, either 
electronically (e.g. placed over a website) or by 
other conventional means, the information is 
passed on to other business functions for further 
processing, in principle, to the accounts 
department. 

Some 24 % of enterprises in the EU shared 
information on orders electronically and 
automatically with the management of inventory 
levels, particularly in the wholesale and retail trade. 
Furthermore, 33 % of enterprises shared that 
information with the accounts department, 
particularly in the information and communication, 
distributive trade and manufacturing sectors. 

Some 24 % of enterprises shared information on 
orders with the production or services management 
and 21 % of enterprises with the distribution 
management. The former refers to aligning orders 
for goods or services with production or provision, 
while the latter refers to making products available 
to final consumers or other enterprises. 

Sharing information on purchase orders 

Regarding purchase orders for goods or services, 
24 % of enterprises in the EU responded that they 
shared information on these with the management 
of inventory electronically and automatically, 
particularly in the manufacturing and distributive 
trade sectors. 

Some 29 % of enterprises reported sharing the 
relevant information with the accounts department. 

For enterprises in all economic sectors, sharing 
information with the enterprise’s accounts 
department prevailed, except in the wholesale and 
retail trade, for which information on purchase 
orders is in principle passed on to the department 
responsible for management of the inventory. 

4 

6/2013 — Statistics in focus  

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5: Enterprises sharing information on sales with other business functions, by 
economic activity, EU27, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27 21%

EU27 24% 
EU27 24%

EU27 33%

Information and communication

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of…

Manufacturing

Electricity, gas, steam and air…

Accommodation

Transport and storage

Administrative and support service…

Construction

Real estate activities

0

10

20

30

40

with the accounting
with the distribution management
with the accounting - all activities
with the distribution management - all activities

with the production or services management
with the management of inventory
with the production/services management - all activities
with the management of inventory - all activities

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dip) 

Figure 6: Enterprises sharing information on purchases with other business functions, by 
economic activity, EU27, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27 24%

EU27 29%

Information and communication

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor…

Manufacturing

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning; water…

Accommodation

Transport and storage

Professional, scientific and technical activities

Administrative and support service activities,…

Construction

Real estate activities

0

10

20

30

40

with the accounting
with the accounting - all activities

with the management of inventory
with the management of inventory - all activities

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dip) 

  Statistics in focus — 6/2013 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sharing Supply Chain Management information strongly depends on economic 
sector 

Supply Chain Management (SCM) includes all 
activities concerning the exchange of information 
between an enterprise and its suppliers and 
customers. This information may concern, for 
example, inventory levels, production plans, 
demand and supply forecasts or progress of 
deliveries. 

Accordingly, the use of SCM software applications 
aims to coordinate effectively the availability and 
delivery of products to final consumers, in the right 
quantity, at the right time, into the right hands at 
optimal cost. 

SCM actively involves all resources — business 
functions — concerned with planning and 
forecasting, purchasing, product assembly, 
logistics, sales and customer service. 

Depending on the industry served, SCM and ERP 
software applications may overlap to a certain 
extent. However, the former tends to focus on 
financial information and material flows along the 

complete value chain of suppliers, manufacturers, 
service providers, distributors and customers. 

The extent to which SCM information is shared 
varies among economic sectors. On the one hand, 
some 27 % of enterprises in the distributive trade 
— the highest among enterprises in all economic 
sectors — shared SCM information with their 
suppliers. 

On the other hand, the highest percentage of 
enterprises that shared SCM information with their 
customers was reported in transport and storage 
(21 %), manufacturing (20 %), and information and 
communication (20 %). 

Overall, in 2012, 19 % of enterprises in the EU 
shared SCM information electronically with their 
suppliers, an increase of 6 pp compared with 2010. 
Some 16 % of enterprises shared information on 
SCM with their customers, an increase of 5 pp 
compared with 2010. 

Figure 7: Enterprises sharing information on supply chain management, by economic 
activity, EU27, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27 16%

EU27 19%

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles…

Information and communication
Manufacturing
Transport and storage
Construction

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning; water…

Accommodation

Administrative and support service activities,…
Professional, scientific and technical activities
Real estate activities

large
medium
small

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

with suppliers

with customers

with suppliers - all activities

with customers - all activities

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dip) 

6 

6/2013 — Statistics in focus  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
One in four enterprises uses operational Customer Relationship Management  

Enterprises streamline their marketing efforts and 
target their customers to maximise business 
potential. For this specific purpose, they use 
software applications for managing information 
about their customers, Customer Relationship 
Management (CRM) applications. 

patterns of customer preferences and behaviour 
(analytical CRM). This information is essentially 
used for marketing purposes,  such as sales 
promotions that are effective in creating interest in 
a product or for optimising market penetration 
through the use of alternative distribution channels. 

It is believed that the adoption of CRM improves 
marketing and sales performance by improving 
customer service and customer relationships. 
Improvements come, for instance, from providing 
user-friendly mechanisms for receiving complaints, 
identifying potential problems before they occur, in 
general, by facilitating communication with the 
customer and by anticipating customer preferences. 
These technology-enabled improvements lead to 
long-term customer satisfaction and can ensure 
increased customer loyalty, decreasing marketing 
costs and increasing sales. 

Some 26 % of EU enterprises used operational 
CRM software applications to capture, store and 
make available information about the enterprise's 
customers to other business functions.  

Furthermore, a CRM software application can be 
used to analyse customer information to identify 

Some 19 % of enterprises used CRM for such 
sophisticated analytics. Overall, adoption levels of 
analytical CRM are much lower than those of 
operational CRM, except for enterprises in the 
accommodation sector, which reported using both 
types of CRM (33 % for both). 

Compared with 2010, the use of CRM increased 
slowly for both types of  CRM, regardless of the 
size of the enterprise.  Overall, for many countries, 
further progress can still be expected as regards 
adopting both operational and analytical CRM in 
view of the potential benefits that customer-centric 
marketing practices may bring to enterprises. In 
particular, the integration of CRM with social 
media is expected to boost the use of CRM 
applications. 

Table 3: Enterprises using Customer Relationship Management, by enterprise size class, 
EU27, 2010 and 2012 (% of enterprises) 

All enterprises

Small

Medium

Large

2010

2012

2010

2012

2010

2012

2010

2012

Enterprises using operational CRM

Enterprises using analytical CRM

24

17

26

19

21

14

23

16

36

27

39

30

50

40

52

43

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dec) 

Figure 8: Enterprises using Customer Relationship Management, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

EU27 26% 

EU27 19% 

AT DE BE

SE

FI NO NL

ES DK

IE

FR

IT

CY LU SI

PT MT SK HR IS

CZ RO PL UK BG MK LT

LV EE HU

Enterprises using analytical CRM

Enterprises using operational CRM

EU27 - Enterprises using analytical CRM

EU27 - Enterprises using operational CRM

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dec) 

  Statistics in focus — 6/2013 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 9: Enterprises using Customer Relationship Management, by economic activity, 
EU27, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27 19%

EU27 26%

Information and communication

Accommodation

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and…

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning; water supply,…

Professional, scientific and technical activities

Real estate activities

Manufacturing

Administrative and support service activities, excluding…

Transport and storage

Construction

0

10

20

30

40

50

to capture, store and make available clients information to other business functions

to analyse information about clients for marketing purposes

to capture, store and make available clients information ... - all activities

to analyse information about clients ... - all activities

Source: Eurostat (online data code:  isoc_bde15dec) 

Almost one in 10 enterprises recruited or tried to recruit an ICT specialist 

The integration of ICT in e-business and the 
adoption of e-commerce generate demand for 
skilled ICT specialists. ICT specialists are defined 
here as those who have ICT as their main job and 
hence are capable of dealing with a wide range of 
tasks concerning ICT systems. 

They are employed across the whole economy, as 
many enterprises make use of ICT and have their 
own IT departments. Enterprise Resource Planning, 
Supply Chain Management and Customer 
Relationship Management are examples of ICT 
solutions employing specialists whose main job is 
to adapt, maintain and support such systems. By 
definition, enterprises in the information and 
communication sectors dominate the specific 
statistics on employment and recruitment of ICT 
specialists. 

In 2012, one in five EU enterprises employed ICT 
specialists (21 %) and in particular 70 % of those in 
the information and communication sectors. 
Overall, this sector accounts for almost 4 % of all 
EU enterprises with at least 10 persons employed.  

For other sectors, the percentage of enterprises that 
employed ICT specialists ranged from 12 % to 
34 %, in construction and professional, scientific 
and technical activities. 

In 2011, 8 % of EU enterprises recruited or tried to 
recruit ICT specialists and 3 % reported having 
hard-to-fill vacancies for jobs requiring persons 
with relevant ICT skills. For enterprises that 

recruited or tried to recruit ICT specialists in 2011, 
40 % reported difficulties in filling vacancies. 

As well as employing ICT specialists, the 
information and communication sectors (51 %) 
dominated the proportion of EU enterprises 
recruiting them. However, demand for ICT 
specialists at much lower levels was spread across 
enterprises in the rest of the economy. The 
percentage of EU enterprises other than in 
information and communication  recruiting ICT 
specialists in 2011 ranged from 3 % of enterprises 
in construction, to 13 % in professional, scientific 
and technical activities. 

Enterprises in all countries reported difficulties in 
recruiting ICT specialists. For those that did recruit 
specialists in 2011, the ratio of enterprises that 
reported hard-to-fill vacancies over those that did 
not report difficulties in recruitment was highest for 
Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria and Sweden. 

Due to the evolving nature of the technical 
environment and versatile use of the Internet, 
enterprises have a fundamental need for skilled ICT 
specialists and employees with advanced ICT skills 
to manage and operate business applications. Some 
9 % of EU enterprises provided their ICT 
specialists with training to upgrade their ICT skills, 
while 17 % provided training for other staff to 
develop their ICT skills. 

8 

6/2013 — Statistics in focus  

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 10: Enterprises employing, recruiting and having hard-to-fill vacancies for ICT 
specialists, by economic activity, EU27, 2012 (% of enterprises) 

EU27 3%

EU27 8%

EU27 21%

Information and communication

Professional, scientific and technical activities

Real estate activities

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning; water…

Manufacturing

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles…

Administrative and support service activities,…

Accommodation

Transport and storage

Construction

Employ ICT specialists
Employ ICT specialists - all activities

Recruited/tried to recruit
Recruited/tried to recruit - all activities

Hard-to-fill vacancies
Hard-to-fill vacancies - all activities

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Figures on recruitment of ICT specialists and hard-to-fill vacancies refer to 2011 

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ske_itspen2, isoc_ske_itrcrn2)  

Figure 11: Enterprises that recruited ICT specialists, with and without difficulties in filling 
vacancies, 2011 (% of enterprises) 

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

7
2
U
E

S F

I

I

K
M

K
U

L
E

K
D

U
L

Y
C

G
B

T
L

E
B

U
H

E
S

V
L

T
M

E
E

L
P

S
E

I

R S
F

R
H

O
N

T
A

L
N

E

I

K
S

O
R

Z
C

T

I

Recruited/tried to recruit and had no hard-to-fill vacancies

Recruited/tried to recruit and had hard-to-fill vacancies

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ske_itspen2, isoc_ske_itrcrn2) 

  Statistics in focus — 6/2013 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 4: ICT specialists in enterprises, 2012 (% of enterprises)  

Employ ICT 
specialists

Recruited/tried to 
recruit

% of enterprises

% of enterprises

Hard-to-fill vacancies

% of enterprises that 
recruited/tried to recruit

Training to ICT 
specialists

Training to other 
persons employed

% of enterprises

% of enterprises

EU27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

HR
MK

21

28

13

29

27

21

18

32

35

22

15

14

24

23

22

32

30

26

26

31

14

29

4

21

25

33

22

30

27

31

21
17

8

11

10

6

11

8

7

8

9

6

7

4

9

7

10

14

8

10

8

9

8

5

4

6

7

12

11

12

14

8

6
10

40

48

34

47

34

:

35

52

25

28

42

25

26

30

43

53

35

47

47

52

44

:

29

26

43

41

52

39

35

46

33
28

9

13

4

11

13

11

6

12

10

7

8

4

11

5

6

14

7

9

12

11

6

10

2

14

11

17

11

13

14

16

11
6

17

28

12

19

24

21

11

25

11

14

17

9

27

8

8

16

11

22

8

26

8

19

4

23

21

36

20

25

25

38

26
12

Figures on recruitment of ICT specialists, hard-to-fill vacancies and training refer to 2011 

Source: Eurostat (online data codes:  isoc_ske_itspen2, isoc_ske_itrcrn2, isoc_ske_ittn2) 

10 

6/2013 — Statistics in focus  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
METHODOLOGICAL NOTES 

Source: Data presented in this publication are 
based on the results of the 2012 European Union 
survey on ‘ICT usage and e-commerce in 
enterprises’. Statistics were obtained from 
enterprise surveys conducted by National Statistical 
Authorities in 2012. The survey reference period 
was January 2012, or for some questions, the year 
2011. 

Sample size: In 2012, 143 000 out of 1.5 million 
enterprises in the EU27 were surveyed. Of the 
1.5 million enterprises, approximately 83 % were 
enterprises with 10-49 persons employed (small), 
14 % with 50-249 (medium) and 3 % with 250 or 
more (large). 

Country codes: European Union (27 countries): 
Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic 
(CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia 
(EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France 
(FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), 
Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), 
Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), 
Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), 
Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden 
(SE) and the United Kingdom (UK). Iceland (IS), 
Norway (NO), Croatia (HR), the Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia (MK), Turkey (TR). 

Symbols: Data in some tables are shown as ‘:’ and 
refer to data  that is unavailable, unreliable, 
confidential or not applicable. Unreliable data are 
included in the calculation of European aggregates. 

Main concepts: The observation statistical unit is 
the enterprise, as defined in the Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993. 
The survey covered enterprises with at least 10 
persons employed. 

Economic activities correspond to the classification 
NACE Revision 2. The survey covered enterprises 
in the following economic sectors: manufacturing, 
electricity, gas and steam, water supply, 
construction, wholesale and retail trades, repair of 
motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and 
storage, accommodation and food service activities, 

information and communication, real estate, 
professional, scientific and technical activities, 
administrative and support activities and repair of 
computers and communication equipment. 

Certain figures (by economic activity) refer to the 
following selected economic sectors: 
‘Manufacturing’, ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air 
conditioning; water supply, sewerage, waste 
management and remediation activities’, 
‘Construction’, ‘Wholesale and retail trade; repair 
of motor vehicles and motorcycles’, ‘Transport and 
storage’, ‘Accommodation’, ‘Information and 
communication’, ‘Real estate activities’, 
‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’ 
and ‘Administrative and support service activities, 
excluding travel agency, etc’. 

Enterprises are broken down by size: small (10-49 
persons employed), medium (50-249) and large 
enterprises (250 or more). 

The ICT adoption models (Figures with S-shaped 
curves) are for illustration purposes, to show the 
relative position of countries concerning the 
adoption of specific technologies in 2012. In the 
theoretical adoption model represented by the S-
shaped curves, the time dimension is not included, 
indicating that the respective countries may 
progress at different speeds. The main 
characteristic of S-shaped curves is that cumulative 
ICT adoption rates (% enterprises) after a period of 
rapid acceleration follow a path of deceleration and 
finally saturation. The S-curve model is one of 
those frequently applied to studies and referenced 
in the literature concerning ICT adoption. 

Hard-to-fill vacancies refer to a range of situations 
in which enterprises find it hard to find persons 
with particular skills (hard-to-fill vacancies due to 
skill shortages). 

Data presented in this Statistics in Focus could 
differ from the data in the database, due to updates 
made after the data extractions used for this 
publication. 

  Statistics in focus — 6/2013 

11 

 
 
 
 
Further information 

Eurostat website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat 

Data on 'Information society statistics' 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database 

Further information about 'Information society statistics' 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/introduction 

Journalists can contact the media support service: 

Bech Building, Office A4/125, L-2920 Luxembourg 
Tel.: (352) 4301 33408  
Fax: (352) 4301 35349 
E-mail: eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu 

European Statistical Data Support: 

With the members of the ‘European statistical system’, Eurostat has set up a network of 
support centres in nearly every Member State and in some EFTA countries. 

Their role is to provide help and guidance to Internet users of European statistics. 

Contact details for this support network can be found on the Eurostat website at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/. 

All Eurostat publications can be ordered via the ‘EU Bookshop’: 
http://bookshop.europa.eu/. 

Manuscript completed on: 27.02.2013 
Data extracted on: 07.12.2012 
ISSN 1977-0316 
Catalogue number: KS-SF-13-006-EN-N 
© European Union, 2013