The digital experience of Europeans depends on which country you are in. Performance varies from digital top players such as Denmark to lower-performance countries such as Romania, according to a new EU index
A new Digital Economy and Society Index developed by the European Commission shows the extent of how digital countries are varies across the EU and that borders remain an obstacle to a fully-fledged Digital Single Market.
The index gives snapshots of connectivity, showing how widespread, fast and affordable broadband is, the level of Internet skills, the use of online activities from news to shopping, how key digital technologies, including e-invoices, cloud services and e-commerce, and digital public services such as e-government and e-health, are developed.
The data are from 2013 and 2014.
Digital experience depends on the country you are in – as performance varies from digital top players such as Denmark (0.68 digital performance score out of 1) to lower-performance countries such as Romania (0.31 digital performance score).
A majority of Europeans use the Internet on a regular basis: 75% in 2014 (72% in 2013), ranging from 93% in Luxembourg to 48% in Romania.
Europeans want to access audiovisual content online: 49% of Europeans who go online have played or downloaded games, images, films or music.
Small and medium sized businesses face barriers with e-commerce: only 15% of SMEs sell online - and of that 15%, fewer than half do so across borders.
Digital public services are an everyday reality in some countries but almost non-existent in others: 33% of European Internet users have used online forms to send information to public authorities, ranging from 69% in Denmark to 6% in Romania. 26% of general practitioners in Europe use e-prescriptions to transfer prescriptions to pharmacists over the Internet, but this varies from 100% in Estonia to 0% in Malta.
Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said, "The Digital Index shows how radically people have changed the way they watch films: they still follow their favourite series on TV but a considerable number - 40% - watch also video on demand and films online."
The Digital Index is published the European Commission prepares its Digital Single Market strategy, to be unveiled in May. The strategy aims to create the right conditions for European citizens and companies to make better use of digital technology across borders. The Commission says that creating a Digital Single Market will generate up to €250 billion in additional growth, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs, in the next five years.
The Index combines more than 30 indicators and uses a weighting system to rank each country based on its digital performance. It is the analytical tool providing the raw material for the rollout of the Digital Single Market strategy.
The new data included in the index will contribute to the Digital Agenda Scoreboard, which the European Commission publishes annually to assess how countries are progressing towards the targets set in the Digital Agenda for Europe. The next Digital Agenda Scoreboard report is expected in summer 2015.
The index gives snapshots of connectivity, showing how widespread, fast and affordable broadband is, the level of Internet skills, the use of online activities from news to shopping, how key digital technologies, including e-invoices, cloud services and e-commerce, and digital public services such as e-government and e-health, are developed.
The data are from 2013 and 2014.
Digital experience depends on the country you are in – as performance varies from digital top players such as Denmark (0.68 digital performance score out of 1) to lower-performance countries such as Romania (0.31 digital performance score).
A majority of Europeans use the Internet on a regular basis: 75% in 2014 (72% in 2013), ranging from 93% in Luxembourg to 48% in Romania.
Europeans want to access audiovisual content online: 49% of Europeans who go online have played or downloaded games, images, films or music.
Small and medium sized businesses face barriers with e-commerce: only 15% of SMEs sell online - and of that 15%, fewer than half do so across borders.
Digital public services are an everyday reality in some countries but almost non-existent in others: 33% of European Internet users have used online forms to send information to public authorities, ranging from 69% in Denmark to 6% in Romania. 26% of general practitioners in Europe use e-prescriptions to transfer prescriptions to pharmacists over the Internet, but this varies from 100% in Estonia to 0% in Malta.
Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said, "The Digital Index shows how radically people have changed the way they watch films: they still follow their favourite series on TV but a considerable number - 40% - watch also video on demand and films online."
The Digital Index is published the European Commission prepares its Digital Single Market strategy, to be unveiled in May. The strategy aims to create the right conditions for European citizens and companies to make better use of digital technology across borders. The Commission says that creating a Digital Single Market will generate up to €250 billion in additional growth, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs, in the next five years.
The Index combines more than 30 indicators and uses a weighting system to rank each country based on its digital performance. It is the analytical tool providing the raw material for the rollout of the Digital Single Market strategy.
The new data included in the index will contribute to the Digital Agenda Scoreboard, which the European Commission publishes annually to assess how countries are progressing towards the targets set in the Digital Agenda for Europe. The next Digital Agenda Scoreboard report is expected in summer 2015.
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