Digitalisation in Europe 2020-2021. Группа авторов

EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index rounds out the European Commission’s Digitalisation Economy and Society Index (DESI) by adding the unique perception of firms. However, the two indices display a strong positive correlation across countries. The main differences between the two are:

      • All six components of the EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index are based on firms’ assessment of digitalisation and questions from the same survey, which makes it easy to make comparisons across countries. The various components of DESI combine data on households, individuals, e-government services and enterprises from different sources and data providers.

      • DESI does not include US firms, yet their data are of paramount importance for the analysis of the digitalisation gap or the digital divide between the European Union and the United States.

      • The DESI component on the integration of digital technology captures firms’ use of digitalisation and e-commerce, but examines different technologies from the digital intensity component of the EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index, which focuses on the use of more advanced digital technologies. Appendix B compares digital technologies covered by both EIBIS and Eurostat and shows a high positive correlation across countries for the share of firms reporting that they use these technologies.

      • The infrastructure component of the EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index captures whether firms consider digital infrastructure as an obstacle to their investment activities, whereas the connectivity component of DESI captures household connectivity by broadband market developments in the European Union. Appendix B shows a strong correlation across countries for the two measures.

      • The EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index does not cover human capital and digital public services, in contrast to DESI. However, the EIBIS index does capture whether firms use formal strategic business monitoring systems, which is an indicator of management practice. Similarly, as EIBIS is dedicated to firms, it does not cover citizens’ use of internet services and online transactions, which are included in DESI.

      DESI and EIBIS Corporate Digitalisation Index, by country

      Source: European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and EIBIS (2020).

      Note: Firms in EIBIS are weighted using value added.

      Where do the European Union and the United States stand in digital adoption?

      EU firms are lagging behind the United States in digital adoption. In 2020, only 63% of EU firms had implemented at least one digital technology, compared to 73% in the United States. Digital adoption in the business sector is spreading rapidly, both in the European Union and the United States. The share of digital firms in both areas has increased compared to the results of EIBIS from last year. However, the European Union is not closing its digital gap with the United States.

      Digital adoption in the European Union and the United States in 2020

      Source: EIBIS (2020).

      Note: Share of firms that have implemented digital technologies. Firms are weighted using value added.

      The majority of firms that are already digital have implemented more than one digital technology. At the same time, about 40% of firms report having adopted at least one of the technologies in the past year. Digitalisation therefore appears to be a recent priority for many firms. This indicates that the European Union needs to rapidly make efforts to support investment in digitalisation to catch up with US firms.

      Adoption of digital technologies (% of firms), by year

      Source: EIBIS (2019 and 2020).

      Note: A firm is identified as digital if at least one advanced digital technology is implemented in parts of the business. See Box 1 for the definition of digital technologies in EIBIS. Firms are weighted using value added.

      The difference in digital adoption rates between the European Union and the United States is particularly pronounced in the construction sector. The share of construction firms that are non-digital is 60% in the European Union, compared to only 23% in the United States. The difference in digital adoption rates between EU and US firms is 12 percentage points in services, 6 percentage points in the infrastructure sector and 3 percentage points in manufacturing. What is more, most firms in construction and services – the sectors in which EU firms also have the largest gap with the United States – have implemented only one digital technology.

      Adoption of digital technologies (% of firms), by sector

      Source: EIBIS (2020).

      Note: A firm is identified as digital if at least one advanced digital technology is implemented in parts of the business. See Box 1 for the definition of digital technologies in EIBIS. Firms are weighted using value added.

      EU firms have lower adoption rates for the internet of things (IoT) than in the United States. The breakdown of the data on digital technologies suggests that the differences between the adoption rates in the European Union and the United States are driven by the lower use of technologies related to the internet of things, i.e. electronic devices that communicate with each other without assistance (see Box 1 for more information on the digital technologies covered in EIBIS). On average, 34% of European firms have adopted this technology, compared to 53% of US firms. EU firms also fall short when it comes to the adoption of drones (which are used in the construction sector). For the other digital technologies captured in the survey, the differences in adoption rates between EU and US firms are less pronounced.

      Adoption of digital technologies (% of firms)

      Source: EIBIS (2020).

      Note: A firm is identified as digital if at least one advanced digital technology is implemented in parts of the business. See Box 1 for the definition of digital technologies in EIBIS. Firms are weighted using value added.

      The European Union’s digital gap with the United States is particularly severe for smaller firms. The difference in digital adoption rates between the European Union and the United States is particularly significant for small firms (10 to 49 employees). Digital adoption rates are strongly linked to size with larger firms displaying higher rates of digital adoption than smaller firms. In the European Union, only 40% of micro firms (five to nine employees) have implemented at least one digital technology, while 75% of large firms (with more than 250 employees) are already digital. Perhaps unsurprisingly, large firms are also much more likely to have implemented multiple technologies. The relationship between firm size and digital adoption rates can be observed in all sectors. For example, in the manufacturing sector in the European Union, only 40% of micro and small firms (with fewer than 50 employees) are digital, whereas 74% of medium-sized