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Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC)
secção: Empresas
Home > Enterprise > News > Portugal is One of the Leaders in eBusiness, eCommerce, eGovernment for Enterprises

Portugal is One of the Leaders in eBusiness, eCommerce, eGovernment for Enterprises

 - 11/08/2009

Logo of the EU i2010 initiative According to the 2008 report of the European Commission on the i2010 initiative for the Information Society, recently published, Portugal has one of the best positions in the European Union (EU) on eBusiness and eCommerce, integrating the group of 5 EU countries that, taking into account all the 10 indicators considered for these areas, are in the best positions. Besides Portugal, this group includes Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and Austria. 

In 6 of the 7 indicators considered for eBusiness the values for Portugal are higher than the EU average, and in 3 of the indicators they even reach the 2nd or 3rd best position across the EU: 

  • Exchanging automatically business documents with customers/suppliers (Portugal = 39%, EU = 25%, 2nd in EU) 
  • Sharing information electronically with customers/suppliers on Supply Chain Management (Portugal = 31%, EU = 16%, 2nd in EU) 
  • Using applications for employees to access Human Resources services (Portugal = 21%, EU = 11%, 3rd in EU) 
  • Using applications for integrating internal business processes (all enterprises) (Portugal = 53%, EU = 41%, 7th in EU) 
  • Using applications for integrating internal business processes (large enterprises) (Portugal = 82%, EU = 70%, 8th in EU) 
  • Sending/receiving e-invoices (Portugal = 24%, EU = 21%, 11th in EU) 
  • Using analytical Customer Relation Management (Portugal = 16%, EU = 17%, 11th in EU). 

Also in 2 of the 3 indicators considered for eCommerce the values for Portugal are equal to or above the EU average: 

  • % enterprises selling online (Portugal = 19%, EU = 16% 7th in EU) 
  • eCommerce as % of total turnover of enterprises (Portugal = 12%, EU = 12%, 10th in EU) 
  • % enterprises purchasing online (Portugal = 20%, EU = 28%, 11th in EU).

The report of the i2010 initiative for 2008 now published by the European Commission also highlights the leading position of Portugal in eGovernment, particularly in what regards to enterprises, as in all 4 indicators considered Portugal has values above the EU average and reaches 1st in one of them, scoring in the whole set of these indicators 2nd in the EU ex-aequo with Ireland: 

  • % basic public services for enterprises fully available online (Portugal = 100%, EU = 72%, 1st in EU) 
  • % of enterprises using eGovernment services for returning filled in forms (Portugal = 68%, EU = 50%, 6th in EU) 
  • % of enterprises using eGovernment services to submit a proposal in a public electronic tender system (e-procurement) (Portugal = 14%, EU = 9%, 4th in EU) 
  • % of enterprises using eGovernment services (Portugal = 75%, EU = 68%, 14th in EU). 

The European Commission report also highlights the priority given in Portugal to the increase of ICT capacity for the scientific community (eScience) and for schools and students in basic and secondary education, including the development of a high performance research and education network, digital scientific libraries (including online access to scientific publications by research and higher education institutions), open access scientific repositories and Grid Computing, and in what concerns basic and secondary schools the fact that all 1st to 12th  grade public schools are connected in broadband since January 2006, and the pioneering programs facilitating the purchase of laptop computers with broadband connections by the students. 

The Report shows that Portugal is in the group of 6 countries most advanced in the use of mobile broadband by the population, given that is 5th in the EU, ex-aequo with the Netherlands, in the set of the two indicators considered: % of individuals using a mobile phone via UMTS (3G) to access the Internet (7th in EU) and % of individuals using a laptop via wireless connection away from home/work to access the internet (8th in EU). 

In fixed broadband speed, Portugal occupies the 3rd place in the EU in the percentage of connections with speeds higher than 2 Mbps (Portugal = 85%, EU = 63%). According to European Commission data for the 2nd quarter of 2008, Portugal was 5th in the 27 EU countries in broadband penetration larger or equal to 10 Mbps in the population (3.3%) and 8th in broadband penetration greater than or equal to 2 Mbps in the population (15%). 

This report shows low levels of regular use of the Internet by the population (Portugal = 38%, EU = 56%), which, as we know, are related to the very low percentage of adult population with secondary education in Portugal (the lowest of the 27 EU countries), although Portugal position regarding Internet use by people with secondary education but without higher education (87%) and with higher education (91%) is among the best in EU, above the EU averages (respectively 67% and 89%), and much above what could be expected on the basis of the country socio-economic characteristics.

Last updated ( 22/07/2011 )