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4 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) STATISTICS
4.1 ICT REFERENCE GROUP
4.2 HOUSEHOLD USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HUIT)
4.3 ICT INDUSTRIES SURVEY (ICTIS)
4.4 INTERNET ACTIVITY
4.5 BUSINESS USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (BUIT)
4.1 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, by 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 23 September 2008. The issues discussed included:
- current and emerging ICT Strategic Issues;
- directions for 2011 Census of Population and Housing in relation to ICT related questions and collection strategy;
- developments in Household Use of Information Technology Statistics;
- international developments relating to of ICT statistics; and
- business collections conducted by other agencies.
The next meeting of the reference group is expected to be held in March 2009.
4.2 HOUSEHOLD USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HUIT)
The latest publication Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2007-08 (ABS cat. no. 8146.0) was released on 18 December 2008. The publication presents results compiled from data collected as part of the Multi-Purpose Household Survey for 2007-08. This collection was affected by the recent changes to the ABS survey program announced in April 2008, and therefore only summary results for the 2007-08 reference period were released. These results include key indicators such as household access to computers, internet and broadband, cross-classified by some demographic variables. More detailed data can be made available to clients on a consultancy basis. In addition to these summary results, this publication provided some data from the 2006 Time Use Survey, including data on access to teleworking and average time spent per day on the computer and/or the internet.
The ABS plans to publish more detailed HUIT results for the 2008-09 reference period in late 2009, however there will be a reduction in the frequency of the HUIT collection from annual to biennial. Accordingly, no new HUIT data will be collected for the 2009-10 reference period. The 2008-09 HUIT publication will also include results from the Children's participation in culture and leisure activities to be conducted in April 2009.
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.
4.3 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 are available in the publication Information and Communication Technology, Australia, 2006-07 (cat. no. 8126.0) released on 7 October 2008.
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.
The proposed ICTIS for the 2008-09 reference year will not be conducted. The ABS is currently investigating options for collating data on the nature and performance of the ICT industries by means other than direct collection.
If you wish to know more about ICTIS, please contact Bethany Smithson on (08) 9360 5913.
4.4 INTERNET ACTIVITY
Internet Activity, Australia, June 2008, (ABS cat. no. 8153.0) was released on 22 September 2008. Data in this release are sourced from the Internet Activity Survey (IAS), and are based on results for all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with more than 10,000 active subscribers as at 30 June 2008. The Internet Activity Survey contains details on subscriber characteristics such as counts of business and government and household subscribers, access connection by speed, access technology, state and territory of subscribers and the volume of data downloaded. Key recent trends have included strong growth in the number of wireless broadband subscribers and a continued increase in the number of subscribers with higher-speed connections.
The reference periods for this collection are December (a full Census of all ISPs) and June (reduced scope survey of all ISPs with more than 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 contains data which represents a census of all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in Australia as at 31 December 2007.
The December 2008 data is expected to be released on the 6 April 2009.
If you wish to know more about IAS statistics, please contact Peta Hart on (08) 9360 5303.
4.5 BUSINESS USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (BUIT)
Data on business use of information technology (BUIT) is now collected as a part of the ABS omnibus business characteristics survey. Summary outputs about the incidence of IT use by Australian business are published annually, with more detailed information available every second year. The latest issue Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2006-07 (cat. no. 8166.0) was released on 26 June 2008.
Detailed BUIT information was collected in respect of 2005-06 and the publication Business Use of Information Technology, 2005-06 (cat. no. 8129.0) was released on 7 December 2007. Data cubes associated with cat. no. 8129.0 were released in early 2008 and provide a range of cross classified output (e.g. by employment size ranges and industry).
The next release of detailed information about the use of IT by Australian Business is expected in August 2009 will be in respect of the 2007-08 reference year.
For more information about business characteristics outputs (including BUIT, Innovation and general business characteristics), please contact Peter Hodgson, Innovation and Technology Business Statistics Centre, ABS on (08) 9360 5367. |
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