E-business survey 2005 - key findings

Some key findings from the 2005 e-business survey are:

• E-business is considered to be important to the current needs of 60% of organisations in Scotland and 61% of those within the Highlands and Islands.
• 77% of organisations within the HIE area access the internet compared with 74% in 2004.  Across Scotland as a whole, 76% of organisations have internet access.
• Although dial-up connections still dominate, this type of connection has decreased markedly, falling from 62% of connectors in the HIE area in 2004 to 48% in 2005.  Encouragingly, organisations within the HIE area appear to be exchanging ISDN and dial-up connections for xDSL, reflecting wider availability of this broadband-enabling technology.
• Broadband uptake rose from 19% to 29% of all organisations within the HIE area over the last year.   However, uptake has doubled among connected organisations within the HIE region over the last year, with 40% subscribing to this technology, compared with 19% in 2004.  However, this remains markedly lower than the Scottish average, where 61% of internet connectors were found to use broadband in 2005.
• A very high proportion of dial-up and ISDN users (86%) within the HIE area have indicated a likelihood of upgrading to broadband within the next 18 months. 
• The adoption of most e-business technologies has stabilised since 2004, although slight increases were noted in relation to the number of organisations in the HIE area with websites (44% of organisations compared with 41% in 2004) and the number of Local Area Networks in use (30% compared with 22% in 2004).
• A very high proportion of connected organisations in the HIE area (86%) reported some benefit from their e-business investment, which is similar to the level reported in 2005.  The most important benefits reported were increased efficiency, improved communications with customers/suppliers and better access to information.  This is also consistent with 2004.
• Online trading has increased steadily over the last three years, with 39% of connected organisations now engaged in this process, compared with 29% in 2004 and 22% in 2003.  This is higher than the Scottish average of 34%.   Levels of online trading with international customers or suppliers have increased, rising from 20% in 2004 to 30% in 2005.  This was most apparent among Creative Industries, Hi-Tech, Tourism and Software & e-Business organisations