Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat)

Sectoral Statistics Department

Science and Technology Statistics Group

Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu Başkanlığı 

Devlet Mah. Necatibey Cad. No:114 06420 Çankaya/ANKARA

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.

Coverage:

The characteristics to be provided are drawn from the following list of subjects:

• ICT systems and their usage in enterprises,
• use of the internet and other electronic networks by enterprises,
• e-commerce,
• e-business processes and organisational aspects,
• ICT competence in the enterprise and the need for ICT skills,
• barriers to the use of ICT, the internet and other electronic networks, e-commerce and e-business processes,
• ICT security and trust,
• access to and use of the internet and other network technologies for connecting objects and devices (Internet of Things),
• access to and use of technologies providing the ability to connect to the internet or other networks from anywhere at any time (ubiquitous connectivity),
• use of big data analysis,
• use of 3D printing,
• use of robotics,
• use of Artificial Intelligence,
• use of cloud computing,
• ICT and the environment,
• meetings via the internet,
• remote access,
• invoicing.

Breakdowns:

• by size class,
• by NACE Rev 2 categories,
• by region (until 2010)

 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 (size classes for enterprises with 0-9 employees and self-employed persons) 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

-          Big data

-          Other topics: Data utilisation, sharing, analytics and trading, invoicing, ICT security, ICT specialists, training on ICT and e-skills

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.

The statistical unit is the 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

All territory of Türkiye

Years 2022 and 2023.

Not applicable

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

Results are weighted by the number of enterprises. 

Employment weighting is used for questions on employees and self-employed persons and in addition to enterprise weighting for certain questions concerning general information about ICT systems, the use of the internet as well as for some questions relating to e-commerce.

On the basis of aggregated survey data transmitted by NSIs, Eurostat computes ratios (percentages). Only ratios are disseminated. The most common units published are % of enterprises, % of employees and self-employed persons.

All units and breakdowns available are listed in the descriptive documents on the dedicated section of Digital economy and society at the end of the page.

In general, data refer to the current situation in the survey period, or where specified in the model questionnaire to the calendar year prior to the survey period (e.g. for questions relating to e-commerce).

According to the Statistical Law of Turkey, the institutional mandate for data sharing was stressed under these articles:

Article 9 (Access to administrative data)
“To be used for the production of official statistics, the institutions and organizations are obliged to submit or open to use of the Presidency the records and other data files they compile, process, and store regarding their working areas, and all kinds of maps and data obtained by remote sensing within the specified period and free of charge.”

Article 8 (Obligation to respond and boundaries)
"Statistical units, in the framework of the fundamental rights and tasks identified in the Constitution, are obliged to submit to the Presidency all the required information or data, which will be used for producing the official statistics on the economy, social, demography, culture, environment, science, technology, and other required fields, completely, accurately and free of charge in the form, period and standards specified by the Presidency."

Complementary national legislation constituting the legal basis for the survey on the use of ICT in enterprises:

According to Statistics Law Of Turkey (No. of the Law : 5429 ), Statistical units are obliged to submit to the Presidency all information or data completely, accurately and free of charge in the form, period and standards specified by the Presidency. Those who fail to submit the information requested by the Presidency or other institutions and organisations in specified form and time or submit incomplete or incorrect information, are first given a warning to submit information requested or cover gaps or correct mistakes within a period of one week. In case no information is submitted or no correction/supplement is made in spite of this warning, real persons or organs and representatives of private law legal entities concerned are imposed administrative fines. Imposition of administrative fines or other punitive measures do not remove of the statistical units’ obligation to provide information. 

According to the Statistical Law of Turkey, the institutional mandate for data sharing was stressed under these articles:

Article 9 (Access to administrative data)
“To be used for the production of official statistics, the institutions and organizations are obliged to submit or open to use of the Presidency the records and other data files they compile, process, and store regarding their working areas, and all kinds of maps and data obtained by remote sensing within the specified period and free of charge.”

Article 8 (Obligation to respond and boundaries)
"Statistical units, in the framework of the fundamental rights and tasks identified in the Constitution, are obliged to submit to the Presidency all the required information or data, which will be used for producing the official statistics on the economy, social, demography, culture, environment, science, technology, and other required fields, completely, accurately and free of charge in the form, period and standards specified by the Presidency."

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 : 

Statistical Law of Turkey, Article No:13. "Confidential data can be accessed only by the ones involved in the production of official statistics, to the extent that they need for performing their duties properly. If the number of the statistical unit in any cell of the data table formed by aggregating the individual data is less than three or one or two of the statistical units are dominant even if the number of units is three or more, the data in the concerned cell is considered confidential. The confidential data compiled, processed and preserved for the production of official statistics cannot be delivered to any administrative, judiciary or military authority or person, can not be used for purposes other than statistics or as an instrument of proof. Civil servants and other staff in charge of compiling and processing these data are obliged to comply with this rule. This obligation continues after the related personnel leave their duties and posts. The rulers of the institutions and organisations producing official statistics shall take all measures to prevent any illicit access, use or revelation of the confidential data. Data or information obtained from sources that are open to all people shall not be deemed confidential. Data confidentiality ceases when a statistical unit gives written approval for the revelation of confidential data concerning itself. Confidential data can be published only as combined with other data so as not to allow any direct or indirect identification."

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 : 

As stated in the transmission format, it is provided flags in the dataset for primary and secondary confidentiality in order to avoid disclosure of confidential results.

TurkStat maintains a release calendar for its statistical outputs.

The planned release dates ( the survey year in September) are announced one year ago on TurkStat website. 

https://www.tuik.gov.tr/Kurumsal/Veri_Takvimi

Not available

Annual

TurkStat has the national news release for dissemination of results for ICT ENT Survey.

https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Survey-on-Information-and-Communication-Technology-(ICT)-Usage-in-Enterprises-2023-49393

TurkStat has not any national publications for dissemination of results for ICT ENT Survey.

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 :

https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/GetKategori?p=bilgi-teknolojileri-ve-bilgi-toplumu-102&dil=2

Only aggregated data are transmitted to Eurostat (no micro-data are available). On the basis of aggregated data percentages (ratios) are calculated and disseminated.

Not requested

Not requested

The Methodological manual used for the survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises is annually compiled by Eurostat in co-operation with the Task Force members of the Member States. Definitions and explanations can also be found in the Glossary of the annual Eurostat Model questionnaires.

Not requested

TurkStat produce statistics under Official Statistics Programme defined in Statistics Law of Turkey which apply to following principles.

In order to improve the quality of official statistics, statistics produced within the scope of Official Statistics Programme shall be prepared and implemented in accordance with the principles of reliability, consistency, impartiality, statistical confidentiality, timeliness and transparency.

The basic principles are as follows; ensuring the accuracy of official statistics, presenting the data to all users on the same time and on impartial base, respecting the principles of confidentiality and protecting the rights of the public to access the information.

All relevant information and methods used in producing official statistics shall be made public in order to allow the evaluation of the quality of official statistics and their compliance with the principles.

All institutions and organisations as well as their staff in charge of implementing the Programme are obliged to act in accordance with the provisions of this law or any further regulations that may be issued on the basis of it.

https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Survey-on-Information-and-Communication-Technology-(ICT)-Usage-in-Enterprises-2023-49393

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 :

The Methodological Manual provides guidelines and standards for the implementation of the surveys in the Member States. It is updated every year according to the changed contents of the model questionnaires.

TurkStat Quality Assurance Framework (in Turkish) is attached.

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 :

Instutional Quality Report is published on the TurkStat web page.

https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Survey-on-Information-and-Communication-Technology-(ICT)-Usage-in-Enterprises-2023-49393/ Metadata/ Instutional Quality Report

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 :

Data needs are regularly discussed at Official Statistics Program (OSP) Working Groups as well as at Statistical Council Meetings. The purpose, duties and responsibilities of the OSP Working Groups are defined in the “Directive on Formation and Working Procedures of Official Statistics Program Working Groups”. User needs are evaluated, analyzed and reported annually.

Directive on Formation and Working Procedures of Official Statistics Program Working Groups (in Turkish) is attached.

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 :

TurkStat regularly conducts User Satisfaction Survey. It records the requests from the users regularly and evaluates them to make a needs analysis. TurkStat acts in accordance with the "Internal Circular on the Evaluation and Prioritization of User Needs" prepared (in Turkish) for meeting the requests from national or international users, evaluating them in OSP working groups, and adding them to the program.

Internal Circular on the Evaluation and Prioritization of User Needs (in Turkish) is attached.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

b) Basic formula

Not available

See concept 18.1.1. A) Description of  frame population.

No over-coverage

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.

According to Statistics Law Of Turkey (No. of the Law : 5429 ), Statistical units are obliged to submit to the Presidency all information or data completely, accurately and free of charge in the form, period and standards specified by the Presidency. Those who fail to submit the information requested by the Presidency or other institutions and organisations in specified form and time or submit incomplete or incorrect information, are first given a warning to submit information requested or cover gaps or correct mistakes within a period of one week. In case no information is submitted or no correction/supplement is made in spite of this warning, real persons or organs and representatives of private law legal entities concerned are imposed administrative fines. Imposition of administrative fines or other punitive measures do not remove of the statistical units’ obligation to provide information. 

Apart from legal sanctions, different approaches are also used to reduce the non-response rate. Before the fieldwork, Invitation Letters and Leaflets are sent to the respondents: The Letters and Leaflets contain the following information:

• The info about the institution and the survey (What we do)
• The legal basis of the work (Why we do)
• The info about how to fulfil the questionnaire (How we do)
• Confidentiality of Information (Confidence)
• The deadline of the survey (When)
• The contact numbers of the Regional Offices (Where)
• Respondent Information Module link for further information
• Username and the passwords required for the enterprises to enter data

It is also used "Short Message Services (SMS)" and "Respondent Information Module" to inform the responders.

To measure a possible unit non-response bias, response rates are compared between size classes and economic sectors.

  No item non-response in the survey. Respondents answer all questions that they have to reply.

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 : 

Data are published in September of the reference year.

 See detailed section below.

For data submission to Eurostat, attention is given to the target date.

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 is no change made that may have an impact on the comparability over time of the results delivered to Eurostat.

Not applicable

 Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

No data revision.

Not available

 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: 

Stratified random sample is used.

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.

Web survey

Validation program was not used by the Turkstat and data transmitted via SDMX and validation was done by Eurostat. Time series comparisons was used by Turkstat.

All data are subject to internal validation team before publication and dissemination.

The criteria for validation are:

• no inconsistencies between sub-data;
• plausible evolution compared with last year data;
• plausible data compared with administrative records.

Grossing-up procedures

There is no imputation.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Problems encountered and lessons to be learnt: