The level of engagement of Irish internet users has grown in the last year, according to a new European Union scoreboard.
The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) found increases in the percentage of the population using online shopping, social networks, video calls, and consuming online news.
Irish people are now ranked ninth among the EU 28 when it comes to use of online shopping, up from thirteenth a year earlier.
Amid calls for more young people to go into science, technology, engineering and maths careers (STEM), the index found Ireland actually has the highest percentage of STEM graduates in the EU, up from fourth in 2016.
But despite this, the percentage of ICT specialists fell in 2016, dropping Ireland from seventh to tenth in the ranking.
When it comes to the integration of technology, Ireland remains number one when it comes to SMEs selling online, turnover generated by eCommerce and selling online across borders.
However, there was a small drop in the percentage of SMEs using the internet to sell goods and services during the period, down from 32% to 30%.
In terms of connectivity, there was some modest progress in 2016, with Ireland's ranking for fixed broadband take-up increasing from twentieth to eighteenth and mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people rising from 87 to 96.
However, Ireland continues to have only 96% fixed broadband coverage, below the EU average, and putting it in twentieth place compared to its EU neighbours.
The country significantly increased its rating with regard to the provision of open data from digital public services from 18 to 3 and eGovernment users also rose slightly.
But there was a small drop in digital public service online service completions.
Despite many improvements in the various categories, overall Ireland's DESI rank for 2017 among the EU 28 remains eighth, the same as in 2016.
The results have been welcomed by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Denis Naughten, who attributed part of the success of SMEs online to the Trading Online Voucher Scheme.
He also pointed to €2.2m in funding secured by the department in 2016 for 15 community and not-for-profit organisations to improve basic digital skills for citizens.
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Quelle/Source: RTE, 03.03.2017
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