|
FIRST RELEASE |
CROATIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS ISSN 1334-0565 |
|||
|
|
||||
|
YEAR: XLV. |
ZAGREB, 12 FEBRUARY, 2009 |
NUMBER: 2.1.9. |
||
|
|
||||
|
|
OBLIGED TO NOTIFY DATA SOURCE |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
USAGE OF
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) IN
HOUSEHOLDS AND BY INDIVIDUALS, 2008, FIRST RESULTS
Tendencies
- slight increase of households equipped with the ICT
- accessibility of broadband Internet access is satisfying only in larger metro areas, noticed slight increase in usage of mobile Internet
- computer and Internet usage is satisfying only with younger population up to age of 24, noticed increase among middle-aged population
- low level of using on-line services such as e-banking and e-government
- underdeveloped commerce via the Internet; only 7% of individuals purchased goods or services via the Internet during last year (no increase compared to 2007)
- large portion of Internet usage relates to leisure activities, growth is expected in this segment with further development of ICT infrastructure
Survey results showed that households in Croatia are relatively poorly equipped with the ICT. Increase by 4% is spotted in all three measured categories, compared to last year.
Compared to last year, increase of 2% is spotted in usage of cable and mobile access to Internet, while number of dial-up users decreased by 3%. There is still high share of households which use dial-up access as the only available option to access the Internet.
It was expected that the high cost of service and equipment would be among leading reasons for not having Internet access, but there is a surprisingly high share of households that do not have the need to access Internet. The conclusion is that a large part of population still favors traditional medias like newspapers, radio, TV, etc.
There are no noticeable changes in age structure of computer users compared to last year. Youngest population still maintains lead in computer usage and the number of users decreases proportionally with age. A similar trend is noticed in employment status structure where pupils and students as the youngest group are the most frequent computer users.
Compared to last year, there is a noticeable increase of Internet users among young and middle-aged population. The largest increase was recorded in 16-24 age group, 12%. Number of middle-aged users also increased. There is an increase of Internet users among student population (4% increase) and among employed persons (7% increase).
If
we compare results with last year data, we can see that individuals mostly use the
Internet for obtaining information’s on goods and services (79%) and for
sending electronic mail (74%). Noticeable is a large increase of individuals
who use the Internet for reading daily news and magazines (21% increase) and
for educational purposes (8% increase). A relatively low share usage of
e-banking and e-government services shows that the usage of on-line services is
still not widespread.
It is noticeable that there has been intensive usage of Internet for leisure activities, although not as intensive as in countries with well developed ICT infrastructure. The last year research conducted by University of Utrecht, which included all major Internet providers, showed that over 60% of total Internet traffic was used for leisure activities. It is expected that such trends will also emerge in Croatia with further development of ICT infrastructure.
Survey results show that commerce via the Internet is not represented as much as it should be; only 7% of individuals purchased goods and services via the Internet. Most purchases were books, magazines and educational material (27%), which is not available on the local market, together with movies and music (22%). A fair share of individuals made travel arrangements (18%), bought clothes and sports equipment (21%), computer software (19%) and hardware (14%)
METHODOLOGiCAL NOTES
Purpose of the statistical survey
Data shown in this publication are estimates obtained through the IKT-DOM survey, which is the annual survey on the usage of Information-Communication Technologies (ICT) in households and by individuals. It gives the information about computer and information literacy of the Croatian population. The goal of the survey is to measure the usage of computers and other ICTs, how many people in Croatia are Internet users and for what purposes they use the Internet. The data are an important source for conducting the policies in the field of information society in Croatia and in the European Union.
Legal framework
The IKT-DOM survey was conducted in 2008, in line with Eurostat's guidelines, and was carried out on the legal basis of the Law on Official Statistics (NN, No. 103/03.). It was conducted by Puls d.o.o. agency, on behalf of the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia. Harmonised surveys are conducted in all EU member states, and therefore, the data are internationally comparable. The international data are available on http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int, Themes Science and Technology Data. Concepts and definitions used in IKT-DOM survey are in line with EU Methodology for Statistics on the Information Society, 2008.
Observation units
The observation units are persons aged 16 to 74 and their households.
Selected persons answer the questionnaire. In case of their absence some other household member can answer instead, but on behalf of the selected person.
Sample size
The sample size was 6,600 persons who were at the time of data collection (15 August to 10 September 2008) aged 16 to 74 years.
Sampling frame
The bases for the sampling frame Population Census of Croatia 2001.
Methods of data collection
The data were collected in the field using paper questionnaires and computer assisted telephone interviewing. The reference period was the first quarter of 2008.
Non-response rate
In the sample size (6.600 units) there were 5,616 eligible units while 2,738 persons took part in the survey. That means that the response rate was 49% and the eligibility rate was 48.8%. The non-response rate was 51% and the refusal rate was 34.4%.
Weighting
By weighting we calculated unbiased estimates and achieved the representation of the sample for the whole population. The data in the survey refer to persons and households, therefore two weights were calculated:
- weight for individuals and
- household weight
RIM weighting procedure (iterative proportional fitting) was used for grossing-up individuals. Variables we used for grossing-up were as following: region, settlement size, gender, age and level of education.
Rim-weighting procedure was used for grossing-up households as well. Extrapolation weight was calculated for each household that participated in the survey and the calculation method has taken into account: region, settlement size and number of household members.
We extended the calculated weights for persons to the whole population of the persons aged 16 to 74. On 31 December 2007 there were 3,426,813 people aged 16 to 74 in Croatia.
We extended the calculated household weights to the population of the households, i.e. households with at least one person aged 16 to 74. On 31 December 2007 there were 1,451,730 households with at least one person aged 16 to 74.
Definitions and explanations
Blog is an Internet diary. The expression is English: WEB + LOG = WEBLOG, BLOG. Blog is a diary written on the Internet.
Wireless connection is a connection with the Internet without wire using radio-frequency, infrared, satellite, microwave connection, wimax, etc. One of the most frequent uses of wireless connection is with a mobile phone.
Palmtop or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is a computer with a screen, usually colour, sensitive to touch. Touch sensitive screen or virtual type device on a screen serve for data entering. It uses memory card for storing data and has at least one type of connectivity: infrared, Bluetooth, WiFi. Handheld computer is less efficient as personal computer in the same price class, but can be used as mobile phone (smart phone), e-mail client, to browse Internet or as media player.
Digital television enables transmission of the television and radio programs in a digital format. The transmission enables high quality signals and the television viewer can enjoy the quality of the picture like they are having it in the television studio.
xDSL Broadband technology are designed to increase bandwidth available over standard copper telephone wires; includes ADSL, SDSL, HDSL, RADSL, VDSL, DSL-Lite, etc. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals and the data part of the line is continuously connected. ADSL is one of the xDSL technologies, which enables asymmetrical transmission of data, meaning that the speed of downloading is much faster than the speed of uploading.
Broadband are technologies or connections which enable rapid transmission of data, respectively films, games, video-conferences over the Internet network (e.g. ADSL, cable connection, UMTS, optical connection, VDSL, leased lines).
Internet café is a public place that offers access to the Internet. It is one of the public Internet points.
E-commerce means buying or ordering of goods and services over the Internet. Typed e-mails are not considered as e-commerce.
E-learning means education via the Internet.
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) known as 2.5 G technology, which makes it possible to send/receive blocks of data from/to mobile phone. GPRS provides an “always-on” connection to the Internet and users are charged according to the volume of data transmitted rather than the time spent connected.
ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is software and hardware used for data communications (e.g. computer, fax, Internet, fixed, mobile phone).
Internet is a worldwide network of computers, communicating on the standard Internet protocol and providing users with exchange of textual and audio-visual information.
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is a digital network that enables transmission of voice, picture and data at the same time (128 Kb/s).
Public access point is any information point that enables Internet access in a public place. Public Internet points are: library, youth center, school, cyber café, hotel, airport, etc.
P2P (peer to peer) is a network where data and information are distributed between multiple number of computers and are not limited to one central server. The network is used for sharing of files, movies and music using different programs (eMule, Kazaa, DC++).
Firewall is a combination of software and/or hardware that protects data and computers from harmful and malicious threats from the Internet.
Set-top box or TV communicator is a device that enables a television set to become a user interface to the Internet. The convergence between television and the Internet enables watching numerous domestic and foreign television programs and Internet usage through the usual television screen.
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is also known as 3G technology that was designed as a successor to GSM. It enables users to transmit images, video, high volume of data through wireless connection and access to the Internet.
Monthly net income per household is calculated from the total monthly net income of the household: wages/salaries, pensions, income from activity, property, farming, unemployment benefits, scholarships, child benefit, etc. Regarding the amount of the household's income, the households are divided into quartiles. Households with the lowest incomes are included in the 1st quartile and households with the highest incomes are included in the 4th quartile.
Localities are divided by types into:
- densely-populated area; includes the local areas, each of which has a density superior to 500 people per square kilometre, where the total population for the set is at least 50,000 people
- intermediate area; includes the local areas, each of which has a density superior to 100 people per square kilometer, with a total population for the set of at least 50,000 people or is adjacent to a densely populated area
- thinly-populated area; includes the local areas belonging neither to a densely-populated nor to an intermediate area
Education is divided into:
- low education; includes persons without school education or incomplete basic education and persons with primaryeducation
- medium education; includes persons with lower or upper secondary vocational education, persons with upper secondary technical education and with upper secondary general education
- high education; includes persons with higher vocational education, persons with professionally-oriented higher education, university education and persons with post-graduate education, masters and doctoral studies
Publishing
The results of the survey are published as the First Release on Information Society - ICT usage in households and by individuals. More detailed data will be published on the National bureau of statistics web portal: http://www.dzs.hr
Abbreviations
e.g. for example (from Latin: exempli gratia)
EU European Union
Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Communities
incl. including
km2 square kilometer
This document has been produced with the financial
assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole
responsibility of Central Bureau of Statistics and can under no circumstances
be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.