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Gunter Grittmann
Head of Information and Communication
E-mail: grittmann@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-132
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-255
Kathrin Böhmer
Public Relations Officer
E-mail: boehmer@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-103
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-225
Around 39 per cent of the companies in the economic sector service providers of the information society operate abroad and sell their products and services in different regions worldwide. This international orientation opens up new sales opportunities to internationally active companies and increases their competitiveness. The main focus of their international activities is on Europe. These are the findings of a business survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform, Neuss. The survey was conducted in June 2011 in the economic sector service providers of the information society (see details at end of press release). read more
The economic sentiment among companies in the economic sector service providers of the information society remains positive in the middle of 2011. Neither strong increases nor decreases in the indicators for the business situation or the business expectations for the third quarter of 2011 could be observed. Accordingly, the ZEW-IDI, the economic sentiment indicator for the whole economic sector of service providers of the information society, has increased only slightly by 0.3 points in the second quarter of 2011. It now stands at 62.7 points. This is still significantly above the critical value of 50 points. A ZEW-IDI value above 50 points indicates a better economic sentiment in comparison to the previous quarter. These are the findings of the business survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)in Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform, Neuss. The survey was conducted in June 2011 in the economic sector service providers of the information society. read more
Among the service providers of the information society it has become increasingly common to make use of e-commerce in the procurement of inputs rather than in sales and marketing of ones own products and services. Roughly 64 per cent of all firms in this sector confirm having ordered products and services over the internet in 2010. However, only 29 per cent of all firms sold their products or services over the internet in 2010. This is the result of the March 2011 survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform Neuss. (See details on the survey at the end of the press release.) read more
The economy has just recovered from the economic crisis, and already the public debate about skilled worker shortage is continuing. Many firms claim they are not able to fill vacancies with sufficiently qualified professionals. In the economic sector service providers of the information society, around 24 percent of companies report that they were not able to fill vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to the lack of skilled professionals. For the year 2011 the service providers of the information society expect the skilled worker shortage to continue though on a slightly lower level. This is the finding of a survey among the service providers of the information society, conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform, Neuss in December 2010 (see details at end of press release). read more
Mobile devices like smartphones or tablet PCs are being used in many firms today. These devices make it possible for the mobile users to access the internet and internet-based services and applications everywhere. In the economic sector service providers of the information society, 68 percent of firms are using smartphones and 67 percent of firms are using web-enabled mobile phones. Around 63 percent of firms have PC cards modems for notebooks and 32 percent of firms report that they are using tablet personal computers. These are the findings of a survey among the service providers of the information society, conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform, Neuss, in September 2010 (see details at the end of press release). read more
The trend to use social software applications in companies is continuing. Almost 47 percent of firms in the sector service providers of the information society, such as ICT service providers and knowledge-intensive service providers, use social software applications. The share of service providers using, e.g., discussion forums, social networking services, wikis or weblogs has thus risen by eight percentage points since 2009. In May 2009, the share of companies in this sector incorporating social software into their business routine was about 39 percent, while it was only 32 percent in the previous year. These are the results of a survey among service providers of the information society conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, in cooperation with Verband der Vereine Credit Reform, Neuss, in June 2010. read more
Companies in the sector service providers of the information society open up foreign markets in many ways. Around 25 percent of these companies export their services, about 20 percent work with foreign cooperation partners and eleven percent delegate their own employees to foreign countries. Approximately six percent of the companies serve foreign markets via branches and affiliated companies. Companies in the subsector research and development engage in sales-related activities abroad the most. read more
Internet-based technologies and services are used diversely among the businesses in the economic sector service providers of the information society. Thus, internet platforms for the development and the offer of own applications and services meet with only little approval. In contrast, for the vast majority of the businesses, the occasional or even intensive usage of communication- and online-information services goes without saying. read more
"Green IT" is often discussed in the current climate debate. This leads to the impression that companies are influenced by aspects like energy efficiency and environmental protection when using information technologies (IT). The findings of a survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim and Creditreform indicate that this is only sometimes the case. The survey analyses around 900 companies with a particularly high usage of IT. read more
The term Green IT includes apart from the energy efficient and environmentally friendly production and disposal of information and communication technology (ICT) also the reduction of emissions via the use of ICT. Meanwhile, more than half of the companies of the economic sector service providers of the information society use telephone conferences as a substitute for business trips. For this purpose, a whole series of companies falls back on net-meetings and video conferences. The greatest advantage of Green IT for the companies is the reduction of operating costs, followed by gains in efficiency and productivity as well as the positive effects with regard to the image of the company. This is the result of a business survey among service providers of the information society, conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research in cooperation with the credit reference agency Creditreform, Neuss, in December 2009 (details regarding the survey are provided below). read more
The sector service providers of the information society, comprising both knowledge-intensive and ICT-specialised service providers, has been highly innovative over the past twelve months. Around 40 percent of the companies have differentiated their range of services by, for instance, changing their service hours or by complementing their services. Around 39 percent have extended their range of services by, for instance, developing new customer circles and market segments. Moreover, 18 percent of the companies have standardised their range of services. This is the result of a survey among service providers of the information society conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, in cooperation with the credit reference agency Creditreform, Neuss, in June 2009 (details regarding the survey are provided below). read more
Around 39 percent of the companies in the sector service providers of the information society use at least one social software application in their business workflow. In this context, applications such as discussion forums, social network services, wikis or weblogs are used, for example, in internal communication and knowledge management as well as in customer management, external communication and within the scope of projects with partners or freelancers. This is the result of a survey among service providers of the information society conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim in cooperation with the credit reference agency Creditreform, Neuss, in March 2009 (details regarding the survey are provided below). read more
One-third of German-based Service Providers of the Information Society – an economic sector that includes ICT service providers as well as knowledge-intensive service providers – export their services abroad. "For these firms, German-speaking foreign countries represent the most important export market, followed by the rest of Western Europe", says Jenny Meyer, a researcher at the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. read more
In the third quarter 2005 the IT-related service providers followed up on the positive business development of the previous quarter and further expanded their respective activities. This is indicated by the clear increase of the ZEW-IDI. read more
The ZEW-IDI, sentiment indicator for the economic sector IT-related service providers, climbed to a score of 62.6 points in the second quarter 2005. With this marked increase, as compared to the previous quarter's value (55.4 points), the indicator reaches its peak of the second and third quarter 2004. read more
The ZEW-IDI, sentiment indicator for the economic sector IT-related service providers, has dropped in the first quarter 2005 for the second quarter in a row and now rates at 55.4 points. This value of the indicator, which is being compiled since the third quarter of 2003, corresponds with the, as of yet, historic low recorded in the first quarter 2004. read more
The value of the ZEW-IDI, sentiment indicator for the German IT-related service providers, is 62.6 points in the second quarter of 2004. This value clearly exceeds the value of 55.4 points of the first quarter. read more
The ZEW-IDI value is 55.4 points in the first quarter of 2004. This sentiment indicator for the German IT-related service providers was introduced at the end of last year. In the fourth quarter of 2003 the ZEW-IDI had reached a value of 58.4 points. read more
From now on the ZEW will be releasing a quarterly sentiment indicator for the IT-related service providers. The new indicator, ZEW-IDI, is based upon the ZEW/Creditreform business survey among enterprises that belong to this sector. read more
The annual rate of growth in turnover in the German IT-related services sector increased to 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2003, up from 1.8 percent in the previous quarter. read more
The development of the annual rate of growth in turnover in the German IT-related services sector in the second quarter of 2003 was better than the firms had forecasted in the previous quarter. It increased to 1.8 percent, after 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2003. read more
The annual rate of growth in turnover in the German IT-related services sector declined to 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2003 from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. The poor economic development in this sector becomes especially apparent when compared to the first quarter of 2002: Turnover, income, demand and personnel have declined; only the downward pressure on prices has abated slightly compared to the start of 2002. read more
Turnover growth stabilised in the German sector of IT-related services at the end of 2002. The annual rate of growth in turnover increased to 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter 2002 from 1.4 percent in the previous quarter. read more
In the third quarter of 2002 the turnover growth in the sector of IT-related service providers has decelerated again. It is currently standing at a yearly rate of 1.4 percent. read more