Statistics Denmark

Science, Technology and Culture

Statistics Denmark, Sejrøgade 11, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø

Data on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage and e-commerce in enterprises are survey data. They are collected by the National Statistical Institutes or Ministries and are in principle based on Eurostat's annual model questionnaires on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises.

Large part of the data collected is used to measure the progress in the implementation of one of the main political priorities of the European Commission for 2019 to 2024 – A Europe fit for the digital age. Part of this is the "European strategy for data", envisioning a single market for data to ensure the EU's global competitiveness and data sovereignty, in which context a comprehensive set of new rules for all digital services was proposed: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, which are centrepieces of the EU digital strategy. Furthermore, the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented a new “EU cybersecurity strategy”, which is intended to bolster the EU's collective resilience against cyber threats, safeguard a global and open internet and protect EU values and the fundamental rights of its people. Furthermore, data will allow monitoring the progress towards  A Europe fit for the digital age, one of the six priorities for the period 2019-2024 of the von der Leyen European Commission.

The aim of the European survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises is to collect and disseminate harmonised and comparable information at European level.

 NACE Rev.2 2008

All economic activities in the scope of Annex I of the Commission Regulation are intended to be included in the general survey, covering enterprises with 10 or more employees and self-employed persons. These activities are: NACE Rev. 2 sections C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M and N, division 95.1.

For micro-enterprises see the sub-concepts below.

Micro-enterprises are not included in the survey.

The model questionnaire on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises provides a large variety of variables covering among others the following areas:

-          Access to and use of the Internet

-          E-commerce and e-business

-          Use of cloud computing services

-          Artificial Intelligence

-          Other topics: Data utilisation, sharing, analytics and trading, Invoicing.

The annual model questionnaires and the European businesses statistics compliers’ manual for ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises comprise definitions and explanations regarding the topics of the survey.

Enterprise

Target Population

As required by Annex of the Commission Implementing Regulation, enterprises with 10 or more employees and self-employed persons shall be covered by the survey.

For micro-enterprises see the sub-concepts below.

Not applicable

Denmark. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not included.

Years 2022 and 2023.

Not applicable

Percentages of enterprises, Percentages of turnover, Percentages of employees and self-employed persons, Million euro.

The national survey follows the reference period of the model questionnaire for all variables.

Complementary national legislation constituting the legal basis for the survey on the use of ICT in enterprises: The Act on Statistics Denmark (Lov om Danmarks Statistik), cf. Order no. 15 of 12 January 1972, as amended by Act no. 386 of 13 June 1990, Act no. 1025 of 19 December 1992, Act no. 295 of 2 May 2000 and Act no. 610 of 30 2018. EU Commission Regulation (EC) No 960/2008. From 2006 the survey is a part of the EU regulation on statistics on the Information Society (EC regulation No. 808/2004). The regulation is extended in Regulation (EC) No 2022/1344.

The data confidentiality policy is supplemented by a number of appendixes explaining specifically how the general policy is handled in a number of specific areas and in a number of concrete situations, e.g. in connection with the users’ access to data from Statistics Denmark and in connection with the exchange of data between Statistics Denmark and other authorities. The data confidentiality policy can be found here: https://www.dst.dk/en/OmDS/strategi-og-kvalitet/datasikkerhed-i-danmarks-statistik

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

At national level : 

Confidentiality is treated in accordance with Statistics Denmark's policy on confidentiality. This stipulates that the number of units in a cell should be treated as confidential, if there are fewer than three units, and if the variable concerned contains sufficient information to allow for the identification of particular enterprises. Such variables are mainly economic variables. Furthermore, concerning economic variables the policy stipulates that information should be treated as confidential when the two largest enterprises in a cell are dominant. The dominance thresholds for the largest/the two largest are confidential, as the publication of this information in itself may compromise the confidentiality treatment. For a description of Statistics Denmark's policy on confidentiality, see (Datafortrolighed - English version: Data Confidentiality Policy)

Data are transmitted via eDamis (encrypted) and delivered to a secure environment where they are treated. Flags are added for confidentiality in case results must not be disclosed.

At national level : 

Confidentiality is treated in accordance with Statistics Denmark's policy on confidentiality as stated in 7.1.

5th of September 2023. 

The publication date appears in the release calendar. The date is confirmed in the weeks before. 

The Release Calender can be accessed on our English website: Release Calender.

Statistics are always published at 8:00 a.m. at the day announced in the release calendar. No one outside of Statistics Denmark can access the statistics before they are published.

Annual

National dissemination of results: 

Publications were disseminated through graphic illustrations on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DSTdk/status/1698939042534932493

National dissemination of results:

See detailed section 10.3.1.

Results for selected variables collected in the framework of this survey are available for all participating countries on Digital economy and society of Eurostat website.

At national level :

Not applicable

Not requested

Not requested

More detailed documentation about the methodology is available in the report from the survey in 2018 (in Danish) Danske virksomheder er i EU's digitale top.

Not requested

Online documentation in english is available at: http://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/dokumentation/documentationofstatistics/ict-use-in-enterprises

The European businesses statistics compliers’ manual for ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises provides guidelines and standards for the implementation of the surveys. It is updated every year according to the changed contents of the model questionnaires.

At national level :

Statistics Denmark follows the principles in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and uses the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF) for the implementation of the principles. This involves continuous decentralized and central control of products and processes based on documentation following international standards.

European level :

At European level, the recommended use of the annual Eurostat model questionnaire aims at improving comparability of the results among the countries that conduct the survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises. Moreover, the Methodological Manual provides guidelines and clarifications for the implementation of the surveys.

National level :

The survey is questionnaire based, and data is collected by digital reporting through the Danish government's public digital gateway for businesses, virk.dk. Validation comprises macro and micro validation and some extent of recontact with enterprises. In the survey design, each observation will represent more elements in the population. The weights assigned to each observation are calcuated using generalising regression estimates. Accuracy and error calculations have been calculated. Overall, the response rate is normally high (above 95 per cent) and the scale of non-response is limited. Non-response is due to bankruptcy, take-overs etc. 

European level : 

At European level, European Commission users (e.g. DG CNECT, DG GROW, DG JUST, DG REGIO, DG JRC) are the principal users of the data on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises and contribute in identifying/defining the topics to be covered. Hence, main users are consulted regularly (at hearings, task forces, ad hoc meetings) for their needs and are involved in the process of the development of the model questionnaires at a very early stage.

User needs are considered throughout the whole discussion process of the model questionnaires aiming at providing relevant statistical data for monitoring and benchmarking of European policies.

National level :

In general there is substantial interest in the survey results from ministries, organizations, researchers and journalists etc. Statistical Denmark has an on-going dialogue with a variety of national users about the contents and usage of the survey. There has been established a Contact Committee for the Digital Society, whose members represent central users: Danish Business Authority, Agency for Digitisation, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency, Copenhagen Business School, Aarhus University, Danish Trade Union Confederation, IT Industry association, The Economic Council of the Labour Movement, Confederation of Danish Industry, Nordea.

European level : 

At European level, contacts within the Commission, the OECD and other stakeholders give a clear picture about the key users' satisfaction as to the following data quality aspects: accuracy and reliability of results, timeliness, satisfactory accessibility, clarity and comparability over time and between countries, completeness and relevance. Overall users have evaluated positively (good, very good) the data quality on the ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises.

National level :

No user satisfaction survey has been carried out, but key users from ministries and other organizations, as well as researchers and journalists, generally express satisfaction with the quality and relevance of the survey results.

Detailed information is available in “ Annex I _ Completeness “ excel file - related to questionnaire, coverage, additional questions.

Not requested. 

Comments on reliability and representativeness of results and completeness of dataset

These comments reflect overall standard errors reported for the indicators and breakdowns in section 13.2.1 (Sampling error - indicators) and the rest of the breakdowns for national and European aggregates, as well as other accuracy measurements. The estimated standard error should not exceed 2pp for the overall proportions and should not exceed 5pp for the proportions related to the different subgroups of the population (for those NACE aggregates for the calculation and dissemination of national aggregates). If problems were found, these could have implications for future surveys (e.g. need to improve sampling design, to increase sample sizes, to increase the response rates).

More detailed information is available in “ Annex II. _ Accuracy “ excel file - related to European aggregates, comments on reliability and use of flag.

For calculation of the standard error see 13.2.1.1.

Standard error (for selected indicators and breakdowns)

Precision measures related to variability due to sampling, unit non-response (the size of the subset of respondents is smaller than the size of the original sample) and other (imputation for item non-response, calibration etc.) are not (yet) required from the Member states for all indicators.  Eurostat will make basic assumptions to compute these measures for all indicators produced (e.g. stratified random sampling assuming as strata the crossing of the variables “Number of employees and self-employed persons” and “Economic Activity” as it was defined in the 3 tables of section 18.1).

More detailed information is available in“ Sample and standard error tables 2023 “ excel file – worksheets starting with “Standard error".

Calculation of the standard error

Various methods can be used for the calculation of the standard error for an estimated proportion. The aim is to incorporate into the standard error the sampling variability but also variability due to unit non-response, item non-response (imputation), calibration etc. In case of census / take-all strata, the aim is to calculate the standard errors comprising the variability due to unit non-response and item non-response.

See detailed sections below.

See concept 18.1.1. A) Description of  frame population.

Not applicable. We have no overcoverage in the 2022 ICT-survey and follow the EU-breakdowns.

Not requested

No measurement errors detected.

See detailed sections below.

See detailed sub-concepts below.

The following table contains the number of units (i.e. enterprises), by type of response to the survey and by the percentage of these values in relation to the gross sample size.

The survey was conducted as a mandatory survey under the Law on Statistics Denmark, which normally guarantees a very high response rate between 95 and 100 per cent, in this case 97,6 pct.

The survey is mandatory, and respondents are required by law to report digitally. Respondents may receive several reminders, and telephone reminders are also used in the final stage of data collection. Eventually, non-responses may result in filing of police case.

Not available

Not available

Other comments relating to the item non-response

No processing errors were detected

Not requested

See detailed section below.

Not applicable

European level : 

Data are to be delivered to Eurostat in the fourth quarter of the reference year (due date for the finalised dataset is 5th October). European results are released before the end of the survey year or in the beginning of the year following the survey year (T=reference year, T+0 for indicators referring to the current year, T+12 months for other indicators referring to the previous year e.g. e-commerce).

At national level : 

The statistics are published 7 months after the end of the reference period. No preliminary figures are published. Results are published in September, where the reference period is January (and, for some variables, the previous calendar year).

 See detailed section below.

The statistics are usually published without delay in relation to the scheduled date. This also applies to data transmissions to Eurostat.

First data transmission: 28th of September 2023. Latest data transmisison 20th of October 2023.

The model questionnaire is generally used by the countries that conduct the survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises. Due to (small) differences in translation, in the used survey vehicle, in non-response treatment or different routing through the questionnaire, some results for some countries may be of reduced comparability. In these cases, notes are added in the data.

Detailed information on differences in the wording of the questions in the national questionnaires is available in “ Annex I _ Completeness “ excel file - related to questionnaire, coverage, additional questions.

Not applicable

See section below.

The length of comparable time series depends on the module and the variable considered within each survey module. Additional information is available in annexes attached to the European metadata.

There are no changes in the survey from the previous year(s) that may have an impact on the comparability over time of the results delivered to Eurostat.

Not applicable

 Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Statistics Denmark data are subject to revisions in the published figures in accordance with the Code of Practice for the European Statistics, Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF). This implies that the revisions follow common procedures and principles, and that the revision policies for the individual statistics are public.

The statistics are published with final figures 7 months after the end of the reference period. No preliminary figures are published. Results are published in September, where the reference period is January (and, for some variables, the previous calendar year).

 Not requested

A) Frame population description and distribution

For more information see concept 18.1.1.

B) Sampling design - Sampling method

Description of the sampling method used (e.g. stratified random sample, quota sampling, cluster sampling; one-stage or two-stage sampling) and information which variables were used to stratify, the categories of those variables, in particular for the NACE Rev. 2 categories related to the "possible calculation of European aggregates", and the final number of strata: 

The sampling method is random, stratified sampling based on the Statistical Business Register (SBR) of Statistics Denmark by size and activity. About a quarter of Danish enterprises with 10+ employees are included in the survey sample. The sampling strata applied correspond to the requested and revised breakdowns by NACE and size groups as outlined in the regulation and model questionnaire. For the first time, the revised activity breakdowns cover NACE Rev. 75. This change has been implemented when designing the sample and NACE Rev. 75 has been included in the sample with 6 enterprises.

A take‐all approach is used for enterprises having 100+ employees and NACE categories between 47.91.10 and 47.91.20 as well as NACE 9510-9519.  The take‐all approach is furthermore used for strata with 10 or fewer enterprises where a higher selection rate is applied to ensure the best sampling with a view to the accuracy of the aggregated results. As of the survey covering the reference period 2015, a three‐year rolling panel structure was introduced, mainly to improve data quality and validation procedures. The final number of strata was 130 in the 2022 sample.

The target population comprises enterprises including complex ones having the main attributes (e.g. given NACE code and size) in the scope of the ICT survey. The attributes for the complex enterprise as a whole were taken into consideration for including the enterprise and its underlying legal units in the sample, even if one or more legal units were out of scope.  In order to implement the statistical unit “enterprise” (ENT), the sample was drawn at the level of enterprise. The attributes of the enterprise were used as they are registered in the statistical business register (SBR). Unit consistency with SBS at the national level was ensured by harmonizing the two samples as regard to complex enterprises and their underlying legal units.

C) Gross sample distribution

More detailed information is available in “ Sample and standard error tables 2023  “ excel file (Worksheet: GROSS SAMPLE)

D) Net sample distribution

More detailed information is available in “ Sample and standard error tables 2023  “ excel file (Worksheet: NET SAMPLE)

A) Description of frame population

 B) Frame population distribution

More detailed information is available in “ Sample and standard error tables 2023  “ excel file (Worksheet: FRAME POPULATION)

Annual

See detailed sections below.

Digital reporting by enterprises and establishments is required by law in Denmark via the one-stop platform virk.dk. Virk.dk is the Danish governments public digital gateway for businesses and provides access to self-service.

The platform Virk.dk is the digital entrance to authorities and provides access to self-service across the public sector as a whole. The platform provides access to approx. 1,500 reports. With Virk Report, it is possible to report to the authorities on behalf of a company.

The ICT ENT questionnaire can be accessed on this address: https://www.dst.dk/da/Indberet/oplysningssider/it_anvendelse

 Data has been validated by server based EDIT validation

The results are raised to 100 percent of the surveyed population based on the stratums used in the sampling procedure. In general, weighting by number of enterprises will be applied. Selected variables are weighted by turnover or employment, in accordance with EU requirements. By grossing up a reweighting and calibration using regression techniques is applied to the weight of the individual enterprise. 

Grossing-up procedures

Grossing up is done using CLAN.

Imputation is not used, neither in the case of partially lacking information in the individual record (item non‐response), nor in the case of completely lacking reporting from an enterprise (unit non-response). The latter, instead, is handling through reweighting as part of the grossing up procedure.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Problems encountered and lessons to be learnt: