Computers used by over 97% in small and medium enterprises

A survey on ICT Usage and e-Commerce among enterprises with 10 or more employees revealed that in 2014, 97.7 per cent of enterprises used computers, while 97.1 per cent also used the internet.

Results showed high levels of computer and internet use throughout all economic activities and enterprise size classes. Figures concerning computer and internet usage remained almost unchanged when compared with 2013 levels. During 2014, employees using internet for business purposes amounted to 33,554, or 3.8 per cent more when compared with 2013. The real estate, renting and business activities sector recorded the highest increase in employees using internet when compared with 2013 levels (9.3 per cent).

Survey results revealed a greater tendency for enterprises to opt for a higher maximum contracted download speed. Table 4 shows a decline in the strata describing lower bandwidths (at least 2 but less than 10 Mbit/s) which is compensated for in higher internet speed.

Mobile internet usage showed positive increases throughout all enterprise size classes and economic activities. In total, 1,114 enterprises provided mobile devices to their employees in 2014. This corresponds to an average of 11 mobile devices per enterprise. In absolute terms, a total of 12,095 employees were given a mobile device by their employers to connect to the internet for work purposes.

Online presence and e-commerce

The 2014 survey also showed that 65.9 per cent of enterprises using internet also made use of social networks and 1,139, or 81.7 per cent, had their own website. The 2014 survey showed that 19.6 per cent of enterprises conducted online sales in 2014: a slight increase over the previous year. In 2014 more enterprises carried out purchases over the internet when compared with 2013, except for large enterprises and those within the construction industry.

ICT specialists and cloud computing

Results showed that 26.2 per cent of enterprises employed an ICT specialist in 2014, while 21.8 per cent provided ICT-related training to their workforce. Engagement of ICT specialists and training emerged as prevalent mostly in enterprises within accommodation and food service activities, transport and communications.

The purchase of computing services through cloud was common among 17.9 per cent of enterprises that use internet. In absolute terms this is equal to 248 enterprises. The most popular cloud computing services used by enterprises were emails, storage of files and hosting of databases