eu firms lag their us peers in terms of adoption rates in the services sector whereas adoption rates in the manufacturing sector are similar on both sides of the atlantic. it also shows that larger firms are more likely to adopt digital technologies than smaller ones. the ecb digitalisation survey is an ad - hoc survey which interviewed 74 very large nonfinancial companies from the euro area5. this survey shows that among large companies the take - up of digital technologies is very high, with big data and cloud computing being the most widely adopted. when it comes to the impact of digitalisation on firm performance, the results of both surveys are highly consistent. they find that digitalisation has a positive impact on firm productivity, driven by the possibility of sharing knowledge more easily and more efficient production processes. it also has a positive effect on sales mainly due to better access to customers. digital firms invest more, especially in intangible assets, and innovate more than non - digital firms. as regards perceived obstacles, digital firms report difficulties at recruiting and retaining highly skilled ict staff. in addition, digitalisation was regarded by firms as replacing low and medium - skilled jobs but not high - skilled jobs. for more information, see european investment bank ( 2019 ) : investment report 2018 / 2019. retooling europe´s economy. for more information, see ecb ( 2018 ) : “ digitalisation and its impacto n the economy : insights from a survey of large companies ”, ecb economic bulletin, issue 7 / 2018 3 / 6 intangible assets today ’ s conference deals not only with digitalisation but also with intangible assets. intangible assets are non - monetary assets without physical substance encompassing ict, research and development ( r & d ), innovation, design, creativity, image and brand, organisation and human capital formation. the development of the digital economy has certainly contributed to a notable increase in investment in intangible assets, as digital firms tend to both invest and innovate more than non - digital firms. also digital technologies have increased the demand for high - skill workers, increasing in this way the investment in intangibles. partly as a result of digitalisation, the relative importance of intangible assets has been increasing in most economies6. but measurement of intangible assets is not straightforward, and their definition in the national accounts has gradually broadened. the current national accounts systems include as intangible assets computerised systems ( software and databases ),

over the coming years, priority will continue to be given to enhancing the completeness, geographical coverage, quality and timeliness of european statistics by the escb and to reconcile and – potentially – even integrate the statistical information collected for monetary policy and financial stability purposes with what was until now the rather separate world of supervisory information. further granular data on securities statistics, issues and holdings are prominent examples. similarly, granular data on credit claims are needed. the analytical credit dataset ( anacredit ) is an example of an endeavour where the experience gained in the wake of the recent financial crisis is helping. the future datasets will serve many different central banking purposes – monetary policy conduct and operation, research, financial stability and macro – prudential policy or risk management. while anacredit ’ s data content may also support supervisory functions, the initiative was launched prior to the establishment of the single supervisory mechanism in 2011 and further work has started on addressing more specific supervisory data needs, and the related appropriate legal basis. for now, however, this project does not include any specific supervisory requirements. these will only be added at a later stage, and only if endorsed by the ecb ’ s decision - making bodies and after close consultations with the main stakeholders. anacredit will make it possible to carry out analysis which cannot be carried out with the aggregate statistics currently available. to give you some examples on the expected use, bis central bankers ’ speeches • it will provide detailed quantitative information on firms ’ access to credit as well as credit supply constraints, especially for smes ( current information is qualitative, only available via surveys ) ; • more comparable information across countries will become available on the breakdown of the lending granted by credit institutions by sector of economic activity, size of firms, geographic allocation, type of instrument, maturity, etc. ; • a more accurate analysis of credit risks, and their potential build - up into systemic risks in the financial sector, will be released on financial institutions ’ exposures to various economic segments or ( cross - border ) counterparties ; • the calibration of macro - prudential policies – based on, e. g., counter - cyclical capital buffers – may also greatly benefit from anacredit ; • similarly, aggregating all exposures of banks to a given borrower, which are often located in different jurisdictions, will provide a meaningful picture of the debt sustainability of this borrower and, hence, of risks borne by its