In EU digital test
February 24, 2015
How digital is your country? This is the title of the latest Brussels study, a comprehensive perusal of the extent to which citizens and businesses in EU nations, from Finland to Malta, use the Internet, how competent they are in using it, and what they use it for.
Overall, Denmark was found to be most permeated by the Internet, and Romania the least, based on the five categories of connectivity, competence, online use (videos, shopping, banking), integration of digital technology and digital public services.
Andrus Ansip, the European Commission's Vice President for the Digital Single Market, said in a statement that the results of the study were "proof that the digitalization of Europe was making progress," but that improvements could still be made.
"The great majority of Europeans are online. It is our job to make it easier for citizens to make use of online content. A European single market can provide access to more content that promote innovation and growth from companies and reinforce trust in online services offered by government agencies or online banking," he said.
Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, added, likewise in a statement: "The Digital Index shows us, for instance, how much has changed when it comes to how people watch movies at home. Around 40 percent now watch films online, as opposed to on television. We have to change our politics to correspond to the needs of the people," Oettinger said.
Turn up the digital heat?
With regard to connectivity, Germany was well above the European average. Eighty-two percent of Germans are regular Internet users, compared to 75 percent for the EU as a whole. When it comes to competence, 69 percent of Germans were found to possess "solid" digital skills, compared to 59 percent for the rest of the EU.
Seven out of 10 German Internet users - just a bit above the European average - read their news online, but far fewer Germans (49 percent of users) made use of social media than the rest of the EU (58 percent), the study found.
With regard to the integration of digital technology in business, German companies were found to be slightly more integrated than their EU competitors.
"We're not satisfied with 10th place," said Bernhard Rohleder, head of Germany's Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM).
"The parts are already in motion - it's time we turned up the heat! The finance sector, the automobile industry, and healthcare are all facing a revolution," Rohleder told DW, adding that "the digital transformation of the economy concerns our future prosperity and the role Germany plays in the digital world - no more, no less."
The German branch of the Chaos Computer Club, Europe's largest association of hackers and online awareness proponents, played down the significance of the study, dismissing it as a "yet another rat race and instance of senseless ranking from a clueless government behemoth."
The Commission, for its part, claims its plans for a digital single market will pay off. Brussels has estimated that the goal of ubiquitous Internet use in the EU will generate a quarter of a trillion euros of added economic growth and at least 100,000 new jobs in the next five years alone.