Browsing, chatting, online shopping...

...are among our everyday activities that use information and communication technologies (ICT), such as computers, laptops or smartphones. Nowadays, we spend a considerable part of our time online for various reasons, whether at work, at school or university, at home or on the move. Often we depend on our digital devices to stay in contact with family and friends, to get directions to shops, hotels and restaurants or to check our bank accounts. We are truly a digital society!

Likewise, businesses operate within a digital environment: more and more they conduct business electronically with their partners and interact online with customers. The internet is the cornerstone for their e-business operations as it provides limitless capacities to connect people and businesses worldwide.

This digital publication, developed by Eurostat, provides easily understandable statistics on several ICT-related topics and presents them using texts, interactive data visualisations and an animation. It aims to provide answers to some common questions, for example, about internet use, but also covers some more specific and less known aspects such as digital skills and e-sales.

This publication is divided into 4 chapters:

• Chapter 1 Profile of the digital society & businesses focuses on how and for which purposes people and businesses go online, on digital skills and ICT specialists. It includes, among others, information on mobile internet access, internet activities, use of social media as well as the employment of ICT specialists.
• Chapter 2 E-commerce looks in detail at e-commerce from two perspectives: people ordering goods and services online and businesses selling electronically.
• Chapter 3 Internet security & the cloud provides information about aspects related to privacy and the protection of personal information online, ICT security policies of businesses as well as about private and business use of cloud services.
• Chapter 4 What is the digital single market about? gives some background information about the content and goals of the EU policy concerning the creation of the digital single market which is one of the ten political priorities of the European Commission.