Already for the second consecutive year, the annual national survey “Perception, assimilation and support by the population of the e-government transformation in Moldova” is carried out at the behest of the Center for Electronic Governance.

 

The survey results for the year 2013 indicates an increase by 6 percentage points (p.p.) compared to 2012 in the share of households possessing at least one computer. Thus, 64% of respondents said they are in a possession of at least one computer in the household. 

 

 

The level of households possessing computers, %

Broadly speaking, the households have at their disposal 1-3 computers, and the average number of computers per household is 1.1 units. 

The level of households equipped with computers is correlated with the age of the respondents, presence of children within the family, the level of education, the level of income etc. A more significant average of 1.2 computers per household was recorded among young respondents under 35 years of age, households inhabited by families with a child, respondents with higher education, respondents with a high level of income, as well as respondents from Chisinau.

 

The level of households equipped with computers based on the age groups, %

 

• 66-74 years – 25%
• 56-65 years – 42%
• 46-55 years – 55%
• 36-45 years –65%
• 26-35 years –75%
• 16-25 years –85%

More than half of respondents having no computers invoked as the reason for not having one the lack of financial means, ¼ stated that they see no usefulness in having one while 15% responded that they do not have the necessary knowledge to use it.

 

Reasons for the lack of computers in households, %

 

• I do not have sufficient resources to purchase a computer – 54%
• I see no usefulness in having a computer – 25%
• I do not have the necessary knowledge to use a computer – 15%
• I do not have access to internet, so there's no point in buying one – 2 %
• I do not see the need to have one at home, since I use it elsewhere – 0, 8%
• I do not have connection to the electricity network – 0, 3%
• Others – 1%
• I do not know/ do not respond– 0, 6%

In 2013, the number of internet connected people has increased as well. Currently, the share of households benefiting from Internet connection is 62%, more by approximately 9 p.p., compared to the previous study. 

Households connected to the Internet, %

 

                                                                                                                          Yes                  No

46% of respondents who are connected to the Internet have ADSL connection, 26 - optical fiber 11% type 3G and 7% - Wi Fi connection (by 4% higher than the of respondents having  Wi Fi connection in 2012).

Type of Internet to which the households are connected, %

 

• Mobile phone – 2%       
• ADSL- 46%                                                     
• Optical fibre – 26%
• Wi-Fi – 7%                      
• I do not know/ do not respond–2 %
• Dial Up – 4%                   
• 3G – 11%

The Internet connection type is correlated with the residence area ad with the region of the country where the respondent lives.

A positive trend in the context of computers’ usability is also attested. Thus, in the last 12 months, 62% of the respondents used computers, their number being 7% higher than in 2012.

The share of households using computers constituted 60% in 2013 (3% more than in 2012).

The majority of respondents in the last 12 months had accessed the Internet from home (90%) and approximately ¼ of them - from friends, acquaintances or other locations via the mobile phone. Approximately 18% used the Internet at work; 16% from anywhere via other mobile equipment that allows access to Internet.

Place of Internet accessing in the last 12 months, %

 

• Home – 90%                                                           
• Friends, acquaintances – 25%                          
• Anywhere via the mobile phone – 23%         
• At work – 18%
• At school, college, university – 9%
• Internet-café – 4%
• Library, postal office etc. (free of charge) – 3%

Anywhere via other mobile equipment that allows access to Internet (Notebook with Wi-Fi, 3G modem etc.)

 

The frequency of using the Internet is also increasing. Approximately 76% of the respondents said they had used the Internet at least once a day (by 3% more compared to 2012).

The frequency of using the Internet during the last 12 months, %

 

                                                                 At least once a day                                        At least once a week

                                                          Less often than once a week                             I do not know/ do not respond

The Internet is used mainly for socialization, communication and information purpose, lesser (shares under 10%) for accessing services provided to the population by various commercial entities and public institutions. See details here [6]

• Discussions through chat (chatting – Skype, Messenger) – 88%
• Use of socializing networks (Facebook, Ondoklassniki etc.) – 82%
• Visualization and/or download of digital content for recreational purposes (games, texts, images, books, music, movies) – 68%
• Reading of news, newspapers, online magazines – 62%
• Transmission or receipt of messages via the electronic mail – 44%
• Download of software – 37%
• Training and education activities – 36%
• Obtaining information regarding cultural institutions and their activity (theatres, cinemas, museums, concert halls etc.) – 22%
• Posting (displaying, distributing) information via personal web pages – 22%
• Internet phone calls/ VoIP telephony - 21%
• Obtaining information about health and healthcare services provided by the public medical institutions – 21%
• Obtaining information about assets/goods and services provided by the economic agents/private companies – 20%
• Obtaining general information about governmental organizations, public authorities, public institutions and their services – 17%
• Banking operations via the Internet – 10%
• Request of public services offered by governmental institutions (application for passport, identity card, certificates etc.) – 7%
• Transmission of information to the governmental institutions (complaints, notifications), participation in public consultations on normative acts – 5%

 

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The Analytical Report with the National Annual Survey detailed results can be found here [7].

The research has a quantitative character; the data were collected on a representative sample (3021 persons aged 18 years and older) which included localities from around the country and was carried out by CBS-AXA during November-December 2013.