To compare assessments of e-economy development in individual European countries, the Council of Europe defined two global indicators in 2002. The first was
The calculation of this second indicator was undertaken by the Joint Research Centre at the European Commission, supported by data developed by Eurostat.
In 2004, the first values of this indicator were published, based on 2003 data and covering only 15 EU countries. In 2005, indicator values were published based on the results of studies from 2004, characterizing 25 EU countries. The history of the creation of this indicator, its construction, and the results of the 2003 pilot study calculations were presented more broadly in
They focused mainly on comparisons of indicator values for individual economic sectors. In the material presented here, however, e-business indicators will characterize individual countries and enterprises by size.
Indicator construction
In studies conducted by Eurostat, the level and type of ICT tools used by European enterprises were taken into account. For their use, two groups of indicators were distinguished, assessing different components of the technological development of each country. In the first group, named
The numerical values of the indicators were presented in the form of weighted averages, using three different weights. The article will present indicators based on the principle of equal weights. Furthermore, they were calculated separately for group a, that is, for assessing the technological readiness of enterprises, and for group b, where the actual use of ICT capabilities is characterized.
From the indicators presented by the European Commission for 25 European Union countries as well as Bulgaria and Romania, 13 countries were selected for further presentation to provide a comparative background for indicators concerning Poland.
e-Business indicators for European Union countries
Despite reservations regarding the reliability of the results of such high data aggregation as occurs in the indicators, as well as the selection of only 12 out of many possible to calculate, they nevertheless allow for basic comparisons, indicating leaders and laggards. The ranking of countries according to the point indicator demonstrably shows that northern countries, such as Sweden, Finland, or Denmark, have maintained the highest degree of e-business development readiness for years. These are simultaneously countries with a high level of economic development. The lowest positions are occupied by indicator values for such Eastern European countries as Latvia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. In these countries, the development of the ICT environment is limited due to infrastructure costs and other barriers. Among countries with an average indicator value between 40 – 60 points is also Poland. Countries in this group show moderate economic development, a large number of small enterprises, and different strategic sectors. The positions of these countries in the above ranking are also relatively stable. Generally speaking, the rankings of point indicator values for assessing technological readiness and the use of these technologies by enterprises are similar. However, at the same time, usage indicators are significantly lower. The highest degree of use of ICT capabilities was shown by Belgium, moving ahead of the northern countries, while the highest decline was shown by Spain. The Spearman correlation coefficient for these two series is 0.86.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka”, No. 3/2006.