Scottish Government
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Digital economy continues to grow

 

Survey shows more businesses are using the internet than ever before.

Scottish firms are using a variety of digital technologies, including the internet, social media and data analytics to drive innovation and increase future sales according to the Digital Economy Business Survey published recently.

It shows that 92 per cent of businesses have access to broadband and that three quarters of Scottish firms stated that digital platforms and technologies were vital to their operations.

Over 4,000 businesses took part in the survey commissioned by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands and Skills Development Scotland.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said:

“I am encouraged by the survey’s results, which highlight the growth in Scotland’s digital economy and will play a key role in informing and targeting our continuing efforts to make Scotland a world class digital economy.

“We are investing £13.6 million through our Digital Scotland Business Excellence Partnership. The Partnership is delivering these funds through two distinct programmes, the first designed to provide advice and support to businesses on the benefits of digital platforms, tools and technologies, with a second aimed at increasing the flow of skilled workers to the sector.

“The data obtained through this survey will play a vital role in helping us to ensure that our support and advice remain well designed and targeted, and to monitor our progress over the coming years.

“We will also continue, through our Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband Programme, to provide homes and businesses across the country with access to high-speed broadband infrastructure.”

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is leading on the roll-out of fibre for its region, and delivers a wide range of initiatives to support businesses and communities to maximise the benefits of broadband.

Stuart Robertson, HIE’s Director of Digital said:

“The roll-out of fibre across the Highlands and Islands is opening up access to high speed broadband for many of our businesses for the first time. The survey figures reveal that 73 per cent of the region’s firms already think digital technology is essential or important to their future growth. As roll-out continues, these findings provide a benchmark to track progress as HIE works with our businesses to build the benefits of better broadband into their plans.”

Ian Blewett, Scottish Enterprise’s Head of Digital Economy said:

"These survey results are crucial in helping Scottish Enterprise and the Digital Scotland Business Excellence Partnership understand the scale and the appropriate nature of support required to enable Scotland's businesses to take full advantage of the productivity and market-reach benefits of digital technologies."

The benefits of digital technology for businesses include boosting exposure of the company, allowing for greater flexibility and remote working, better advertising and collection of customer data.

The survey is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Economy/digital/digitaleconomy

Notes To Editors

The Digital Economy Business Survey was jointly commissioned by Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Skills Development Scotland and was carried out in June-July 2014.

The aim of the survey was to measure progress in the digital economy and to assess the extent to which Scotland’s businesses have adopted and exploited digital infrastructure and technologies to reach their full economic potential. The results provide a baseline for where Scotland currently stands in the digital economy, and subsequent surveys (anticipated to take place in 2017 and 2020) will allow progress to be tracked over time.

In total, 4,002 businesses (excluding sole traders) took part in the survey via telephone. Just over 1,800 of these interviews were carried out with businesses in the SE area, with the remainder in the HIE area, enabling detailed results for both.

Key findings from the survey include:

92 per cent of businesses had access to a broadband connection (19 per cent had Next Generation Access – broadband products providing a download speed that is greater than 24Mbit/s – and 73 per cent had standard broadband.

The most widely adopted digital platforms and technologies were the use of a company website (73 per cent), mobile technologies (64 percent) and using social media (53 per cent).

71 per cent of businesses that use digital technologies stated that they have used the technologies to aid innovation.

75 per cent of businesses stated that digital technologies are either essential or important for the current operations and future growth or competitiveness

Overall, there is a desire amongst a majority of businesses that already use digital technologies to further develop their usage (77 per cent).

 

 

Channel website: http://www.gov.scot/

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