12/03/2008 Note: Datacubes released to provide additional data to that previously released in Business Use of Information Technology, Australia (ABS Cat No. 8129.0) on 7 December 2007.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents a summary of outputs from the 2005-06 Business Characteristics Survey (BCS) relating to business use of information technology. It focusses on the key indicators of computer use, Internet access, web presence and Internet commerce. The information provided in the Explanatory Notes must be taken into consideration when interpreting these results, particularly if making comparisons to data reported for previous periods.
Business Use of Information Technology, Summary Indicators - 2002-03 to 2005-06 |
|  |
| | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06(a) | |
| |
| Proportion of businesses which reported:(b)(c) | | | | | |
| Computer use (%) | 83.0 | 85.2 | 88.6 | r88.8 | |
| Internet use (%) | 71.4 | 74.2 | 76.8 | 81.3 | |
| Web presence (%) | 23.0 | 25.1 | 26.7 | 29.8 | |
| Proportion of businesses which:(b)(c) | | | | | |
| Placed orders via the Internet or web (%) | 27.8 | 31.3 | 32.7 | 37.3 | |
| Received orders via the Internet or web (%) | 13.3 | 12.0 | 12.2 | 20.9 | |
| Internet income ($b) | 24.3 | 33.3 | 39.6 | 56.7 | |
Proportion of businesses with Internet access
via broadband connections(c) (%) | na | 41.5 | 62.7 | 82.5 | |
| |
| na not available |
| r revised |
(a) Revised since release of '8166.0 Summary of IT Use and Innovation
in Australian Business' on 19 November 2007. |
| (b) Proportions are of all businesses. |
| (c) Proportions are of all businesses with Internet access. |
INTERNET ACCESS AND WEB PRESENCE
Although the proportion of businesses using a computer appears to have stabilised, the proportion of businesses reporting Internet use continues to grow. The proportion of businesses reporting Internet use increased 4 percentage points during the year ended June 2006 and 10 percentage points overall since 2002-03.
The proportion of businesses reporting having a web presence, either on their own dedicated website or as a presence on another entity's website, continued to grow, reaching 30%.
TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION
Businesses that reported Internet use were asked to identify the main type of Internet connection. Broadband, which is defined by the ABS as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256kbps, has continued to increase and dominates business connections. The proportion of businesses that reported a broadband connection as their main Internet connection increased from 63% as at the end of June 2005 to 82% as at the end of June 2006.
MAIN TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION (a), as at 30 June
As at 30 June 2006, 30% of Australian businesses reported having a web presence either on their own website, home page or a presence on another entity's website. This is an increase of 3 percentage points over the previous year.
MAIN TYPE OF BROADBAND CONNECTION USED
Businesses using broadband as their main connection to the Internet were also asked to specify the main type of broadband connection in use at 30 June 2006. The most common broadband connection used was DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) with 80% of broadband users identifying this as the main type of broadband connection. The next most common type of broadband connection reported was Cable (15%) which includes Fibre Optic, Coaxial and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cable.
REASONS FOR NOT USING BROADBAND
Businesses using the Internet that did not report a broadband connection were asked the reasons for not having a broadband connection. Businesses could identify more than one reason. Perceived
Unavailability in business location (38%) was the most commonly reported reason for businesses not using broadband. This was followed by
Ongoing connection and usage costs too high (25%),
Lack of perceived benefits of broadband (24%) and
Broadband startup connection costs too high (22%). Broadband had not been considered by 19% of businesses with non-broadband Internet access.
INTERNET COMMERCE
The proportion of businesses which reported placing orders via the Internet or web for any goods or services during the year ended 30 June 2006 was 37%, an increase of 4 percentage points from the previous year. The incidence of this business practice continues to increase.
The proportion of businesses reporting receipt of orders via the Internet or web increased from 12% in 2004-05 to 21% in 2005-06. The value of Internet income associated with the receipt of orders grew by approximately 40% from $40 billion in 2004-05 to $57 billion in 2005-06.
IT SECURITY
Businesses that used a computer were asked which IT security measures they had used. Businesses could identify more than one type of measure.
The most commonly used IT security measures were Virus checking or protection software and Firewall (software or hardware) reported by 86% and 73% of businesses with IT use, respectively.
Business use of IT security measures (a), as at 30 June 2006
Nearly three quarters (74%) of businesses with computer use reported no IT security incidents or breaches while a further 7% were unsure as to whether the business had experienced any IT security incidents or breaches. Therefore, 19%, or almost one in five businesses, did report an IT incident or breach.
The most commonly reported impact of an IT security incident or breach was Downtime of service (57%), then Corruption of hardware or software (41%) and Loss of staff productivity (40%).
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
This publication presents detailed indicators on the incidence of business use of information technology and associated activities, such as Internet commerce, in Australia as collected by the 2005-06 Business Characteristics Survey (BCS).
CHANGES TO THE SURVEY VEHICLE
Previously, these information technology (IT) indicators were produced from the separate annual Business Use of Information Technology (BUIT) survey.
Collection of these data using the BCS vehicle is part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) Integrated Business Characteristics Strategy (IBCS). This strategy integrates the collection and quality assurance of data required for a wide variety of point in time estimates on BUIT, Innovation and a broad range of other non-financial business characteristics, as well as for input into a Business Longitudinal Database (BLD). A key output of the IBCS is the production of annual BUIT and business innovation indicators, with a more detailed set of items for each of these topics being collected every second year (i.e. in alternating years). The change of survey vehicle has impacted on the comparability of outputs in this release with those released in previous issues and users are advised to exercise caution (for more information please refer to Explanatory Notes 26 to 28).
PUBLICATION CONTENT
This release contains detailed information about IT use and associated activities such as Internet commerce and measures of IT security, and where appropriate, comparisons with available international indicators. More detailed information on most of these factors will be released in spreadsheet format via the ABS website in mid-January 2008. Other business characteristics outputs, including innovation related indicators, will be released via the ABS web site in February 2008 (please refer to Explanatory Notes 34 to 35). This release contains measures on the incidence of use of IT and innovation. More detailed analysis on the intensity and impact of these on business performance is being undertaken and will be released by the ABS over the next year (please refer to Explanatory Note 37).
OUTPUT FOR STATES AND TERRITORIES
The change of survey vehicle has impacted on the comparability of outputs in this release with those released in previous issues. The ABS is undertaking additional work to maximise the quality of IT use data at the state and territory level. It is hoped that business use of IT outputs for states and territories will be released in mid-January 2008. For more information about how changes resulting from the implementation of the IBCS have impacted on state and territory level data (please refer to Explanatory Note 17). If you wish to be notified of the release of state and territory data or other BCS releases, please send an email with your request to innovation.technology@abs.gov.au.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Peter Hodgson on Perth (08) 9360 5367.
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