Croatian companies are in a much better position.
The number of internet users in Croatia has increased to 66 percent, but this is still far from the European Union’s average of 76 percent. When it comes to the integration of the digital technology into business operations, the numbers are better and in accordance with the EU average, reports liderpress.hr on May 28, 2016.
The European Commission has released a report on digital advancements in the European Union, which shows great differences between the development levels of the member states. The numbers are not really surprising. While the Nordic countries are among the most advanced in the world regarding this area, the other ones lag far behind. The Report on Digital Advancement includes five aspects – accessibility, digital skills, internet use, integration of the digital technology into business operations and digital public services.
At the EU level, about 22 percent of households have an internet connection faster than 30 Mbps, 71 percent have broadband, while only eight percent have been subscribed to 100 Mbps or higher, and 69 percent have at least one mobile internet connection. Seventy six percent of the Union citizens regularly use internet, but 45 percent lack basic digital skills. Many member states are lacking in IT professionals.
The use of internet as means for distribution remains at the very low level, as only 16.7 percent of companies sell through it, and the difference is very obvious between the big and small businesses. Only 7.5 percent of small firms have been selling their goods over the internet compared to 23 percent of the big players. The number of citizens that make online orders is growing slowly. It stands currently at 53 percent, which represents a 13 percent growth over the last five years. Meanwhile, the things are moving in the right direction regarding the access to public services online, and the bigger problem is to encourage those who do not want to use internet for these purposes (52 percent) to change their habits and preferences.
As for Croatia, it is pretty close to the bottom of the list with 30 percent of households which are not subscribed to the broadband internet. In the area of advanced technologies or rather faster internet, the numbers are even worse. The access to the new generation connection (usually including downloads of at least 30 Mbps) has been recorded in the 52 percent of households (the EU average is 71 percent). The number of internet users has jumped to 66 percent, but this is still far from the EU average of 76 percent. Forty four percent of Croats have been ordering items on the internet, in comparison with the European average of 69 percent.
However, regarding the integration of digital technologies into business operations, the data is much more promising. Croatia is either following the EU average or exceeding it, depending on the category.
