ABS reveals decline in IT take up

ABS reveals decline in IT take up

Adoption of IT by Australian businesses has declined, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The twelve months to June 2002 saw no growth in the 84 per cent of businesses using a computer. Businesses accessing the Internet increased by 3 per cent to 72 per cent, while the amount of businesses with a Web presence increased by 2 per cent to 24 per cent.

Actual methods of Web access vary according to business size. Amongst small businesses with under four employees, 88 per cent used a dial-up connection.

25 per cent of Australian businesses placed orders over the Internet or Web in the year 2001-02, compared with 20 percent during 2000-01. However, there was a decline in the number of Australian businesses receiving orders for goods and services via the Web or Net, with a drop from 9 per cent to 6 per cent.

Despite this decline, the estimated Internet income earned by Australian businesses increased by $1.9 billion to $11.3 billion in 2001-02. This accounted for 0.8 per cent of total business income during 2001-02.

41 per cent of businesses reported security incidents over the year to June 2002. The most common IT security incidents were viruses, which accounted for 38 per cent of reported incidents.

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