2003 SIBIS Benchmarking e-Government in Europe and the US

"Existing studies of e-government concentrate on the supply-side by focusing on the availability and level of sophistication of online services and usage. This study addresses the demand-side of e-government - not only usage, but also perceptions and barriers to utilisation that have not been treated previously. Indicators to measure acceptance and adoption of e-government were used to build two surveys that were then piloted among members of the ‘general population’ in the 15 EU Member States, Switzerland and Europe and to decision makers (IT managers) in the commercial sector in seven EU countries. The results of first survey indicated a preference for online services that do not require users to provide a great deal of personal information. Also, familiarity with using the Internet tended to correlate with a higher interest in online services. "

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SIBIS New eEurope Indicator Handbook

"An adequate data basis is essential to carry out research on the properties and results of societal change towards an information society; it is also important for the development of new products and services that are targeted towards the use of information and communication and for designing policy measures that influence the use and impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) in society. The purpose of this handbook is to advance the establishment of this data basis by suggesting core elements of an indicator system on one of the most influential technological innovations of the last decades: computer networks in general and the Internet in particular."

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Benchmarking Education in the Information Society in Europe and US

"This report is a main deliverable of the SIBIS project (Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society), funded by the European Commission under the “Information Society Technology” Programme (1998-2002). The overall goal of SIBIS is to develop and pilot indicators for monitoring progress towards the Information Society, taking account of the “e-Europe action lines”. SIBIS focuses on nine topics of interest, i.e. Telecommunications and Access, Internet for R&D, Security and Trust, Education, Work and Skills, Social Inclusion, e-Commerce, e-Government and e- Health.

Within the SIBIS project two surveys (a General Population Survey and a Decision Makers Survey – businesses) were conducted between March and May 2002 covering the nine eEurope topics. This report describes the outcomes with respect to the topic of “Education”. The document has two main objectives, i.e. to be a support tool for views shared by experts in the area and, at the same time, to define indicators for quantifying some of the critical variables related to education, especially ICT skills and digital literacy."

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Matching Up to the Information Society
An Evaluation of EU, the EU Accession Countries, Switzerland and the US

"This report presents the current understanding of the advancement of the Information Society within the European Union and countries that are up for accession in 2004, and is based on the SIBIS surveys and analyses per SIBIS theme and country. The report is unique in its coherent and comprehensive approach in measuring the Information Society. It intends to inform policy-makers and citizens on the advancement of the Information Society, further debate and research among the professional statistical community, and lead to an improved statistical competence in measuring the Information Society in Europe. The report focuses on basic access and usage elements like Internet readiness, the digital divide, and information security. It not only considers factors that determine access and usage, such as the perceptions of possible barriers, digital literacy, learning, and training issues, but it also benchmarks on-line applications like e-commerce, e-work, e-science, e-government, and e-health. The report concludes with a summary of recommendations for policy-makers and further research."

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Measuring the Information Society in EU, In the EU Accession Countries, Switzerland and the US
Pocket Book 2002/03

"Digital divide in the EU in time

The magnitude of digital divides can also be expressed in terms of time lags, i.e. in terms of the time delay for particular sub-groups to achieve the same level of Internet usage as the population on average.

Such time distances were calculated between the April 2002 levels of Internet usage for the selected socio-economic and demographic groups and the (earlier) time when corresponding levels had been achieved by the population overall. The smallest time lag was that for gender, followed by age (50+), income (lowest quartile) and low education (early school-leavers). The gender time lag for Internet usage overall is only about 5 months, meaning that the population overall reached the April 2002 levels of usage by women five months earlier, whilst for the low education group it was more than 4 years."

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Towards the Information Society in Europe and the US
SIBIS Benchmarking Highlights 2002

"For some years now statistical indicators on the Information Society have been central in the policy making process. This has been best demonstrated through the benchmarking exercise of the eEurope 2002 Action Plan, and its further inclusion as a key activity in eEurope 2005. Having recognised this need and driven by the difficulties in obtaining reliable and appropriate statistics, the IST programme supported a pan-European  research effort during Framework Programme-5. The prime objective has been to develop and make available methodologies, tools and new statistical indicators which can help remedy the deficit in this field.

It is in this context that the SIBIS project was launched (IST-26276, Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society”, www.sibis-eu.org). This document, “SIBIS Benchmarking 2002 Highlights”, presents some of the project’s main findings so far."

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