ICT Usage and e-Commerce usage in 2013

Results showed high levels of computer use throughout all enterprise size classes and economic activities. The construction industry recorded the lowest usage rate, and stood at 89.8 percent. On the other hand, wholesale and retail trade recorded the highest rate at 99.4 percent.

In 2013, 95.5 percent of enterprises made use of the Internet for business purposes. This figure remained almost unchanged when compared with 2012. The number of employees using the Internet reached 29,104, up by 2.0 percent over the previous year.

Most enterprises (87.9 percent) made use of a DSL Internet connection, and 66.6 percent of enterprises were also connected via mobile broadband. Results showed that DSL was the most popular connection among small and medium-sized enterprises, while mobile broadband was mostly popular with large enterprises.

The rate of e-government usage decreased marginally over 2012 to 92.6 percent. On the other hand, enterprises owning a website or homepage increased by 5.1 percent. Over half of enterprises’ websites included a ‘product catalogue and pricelist’ (54.6 percent), with 48.2 percent of these websites also displaying a ‘privacy policy statement’.

Results showed that 19.3 percent of enterprises using the Internet also carried out sales via e-commerce. Similarly, purchases via e-commerce were carried out by 22.2 percent of enterprises.

Mobile Internet Users

The survey showed that 69.3 percent of enterprises provided mobile devices to some of their employees for business purposes, an increase of 27.5 percent over 2012. Provision of mobile devices to employees increased among all enterprise size classes and economic activities. In total, 7,751 employees made use of a mobile device for work purposes. This represents an average of nine mobile devices per enterprise.

Social Media

The 2013 survey also included an ad-hoc module on the use of social media among enterprises. Results showed that 711 enterprises (57.8 percent) using Internet also used social media. Nearly 80 percent used social media to develop their corporate image whereas 58.3 percent used it to obtain customer feedback.