2 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) STATISTICS

2.1 ICT REFERENCE GROUP
2.2 HOUSEHOLD USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HUIT)
2.3 PATTERNS OF INTERNET ACCESS IN AUSTRALIA, 2006
2.4 ICT INDUSTRIES SURVEY (ICTIS)
2.5 INTERNET ACTIVITY
2.6 BUSINESS USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY


2.1 ICT REFERENCE GROUP

The ABS established an ICT reference group in early 2004 involving government, industry, academic and community representatives. The aim of the reference group is to improve the usefulness of ICT statistics collected by the ABS from a variety of sources. The reference group provides a high level forum for understanding, improving and developing ICT statistics, providing members with the opportunity to discuss and consider strategies to address ICT statistical issues.

The most recent meeting of the reference group was held on 8 November 2007. The issues discussed included:

• Current and emerging policy issues in relation to ICT statistics including the extension of Broadband.
• Recent developments and future directions in ABS ICT and related statistics including new technologies such as wireless Broadband.
• Directions for 2011 Census of Population and Housing in relation to ICT related questions and collection strategy. (See Section 6.3)

The next meeting of the reference group is expected in April 2008.
2.2 HOUSEHOLD USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HUIT)

The latest publication Household Use of Information Technology, 2006-07 (ABS cat. no. 8146.0) was released on 20 December 2007. The publication presents results compiled from HUIT data collected from the Multi-Purpose Household Survey for 2006-07.

Detailed Relative Standard Error (RSE) tables were provided for all survey results included in this issue.

The next issue of the publication for the 2007-08 reference period, is expected to be released in December 2008.

For further information about HUIT statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Siddhartha De, Innovation and Technology NSC on 02 6252 6519.
2.3 PATTERNS OF INTERNET ACCESS IN AUSTRALIA, 2006

The ABS released a publication on patterns of Internet access by households and individuals in Australia using the 2006 Census of Population and Housing data on 29 November 2007 (Patterns of Internet Access in Australia, 2006 - ABS cat.no. 8146.0.55.001). This study was based on an in-depth analysis of the census data from a spatial as well as socio-demographic perspectives. The paper examined the spatial distribution of Internet access by households along with the influence of socioeconomic and other variables such as household income, family and household characteristics, education level, occupation, labour force status and indigenity, on connectivity. Both cross-tabular analysis and regression modelling were used in the study. Where possible, comparisons were made with Census 2001 and other related survey data.


2.4 ICT INDUSTRIES SURVEY (ICTIS)

The ICT Industries Survey collects data on the production and distribution of ICT goods and services by businesses in Australia. The latest ICTIS was conducted in respect of the 2006-07 financial year. Results will be available in October 2008 – in the publication Information and Communication Technology, Australia, 2006-07 (cat. no. 8126.0).

A number of improvements have been made to the survey for 2006-07, including: the introduction of ANZSIC 2006; extension of the survey to include non-employers; and the collection of a state and territory split of income from the sale of goods and services.

If you wish to know more about ICTIS, please contact John Jones on (08) 9360 5296.


2.5 INTERNET ACTIVITY

The publication Internet Activity, Australia (ABS cat. no. 8153.0) is scheduled for release on 24 April 2008 for the December 2007 period. Data in this publication are sourced from the Internet Activity Survey (IAS), which is a Census of all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in Australia as at 31 December 2007. The Internet Activity Survey is the sole source of official data on Internet and broadband activity in Australia. It contains details on subscriber characteristics such as counts of business and government and household subscribers, subscribers by access connection by speed, subscribers by access technology, subscribers by state and territory and the volume of data downloaded by access technology. The reference periods for this collection have moved from September and March to December (a full Census of all ISPs) and June (reduced scope survey of all ISPs with over 10,000 active subscribers) respectively to align with international reporting of broadband statistics by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The previous issue of the Internet Activity, Australia publication contains data which represent all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in Australia with over 10,000 active subscribers as at 31 March 2007. Findings from the latest publication include: At the end of the March quarter 2007, there were 6.43 million active Internet subscribers in Australia, comprised of 761,000 business and government subscribers and 5.67 million household subscribers. The number of non dial-up subscribers was 4.34 million, compared with dial-up subscribers of 2.09 million recorded at the end of March 2007. Non dial-up subscribers increased by 16% between September 2006 and March 2007, while dial-up dropped by 16%. The growth in non dial-up was driven mainly by household subscribers. Non dial-up subscribers represented 67% of total Internet subscribers in Australia at the end of March 2007 compared with 60% at the end of September 2006. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) continued to be the dominant access technology used for non dial-up subscribers, with 3.36 million or almost 78% of total non dial-up subscribers being connected using this means. Connections with download speeds of 1.5Mbps or greater increased by 43% in March 2007 to 1.56 million, compared to 1.09 million subscribers at the end of September 2006.

If you wish to know more about IAS statistics, please contact Peta Hart on (08) 9360 5303.

2.6 BUSINESS USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (BUIT)

BUIT statistics are now released in two separate catalogues, as a result of the ABS Integrated Business Characteristics Strategy (IBCS). The latest issues are:

• Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2005-06 (cat. no. 8166.0), released on 19 November 2007
• Business Use of Information Technology, 2005-06 (cat. no. 8129.0), released on 7 December 2007

Cat. no. 8129.0 will have associated datacubes appended as they become available and will provide a range of cross classified output (e.g. by employment size ranges, industry). These datacubes are expected to be available by the end of March 2008.

Cat. no. 8166.0 includes key BUIT indicators only and will be released on an annual basis, while cat. no. 8129.0 includes detailed BUIT indicators and will be released on a biennial basis. (For further information see also Business Characteristics Statistics)

The next issues of cat. no. 8166.0, for the 2006-07 reference period, is expected to be released in late June 2008.

In June 2009, Detailed BUIT indicators will be released in cat. no. 8129.0 in respect of the 2007-08 reference period.

For further information about the collection and output of BUIT statistics, contact Peter Hodgson, Innovation and Technology Business Statistics Centre, ABS on (08) 9360 5367.