Press Release 22/11/2024

Information Society Survey. ESI-Administration. 2024

84.1% of Public Administration establishments used social networks as a tool within the framework of Industry 4.0 in the Basque Country

5.3% of public sector employees worked remotely in 2024, with this percentage rising to 11.0% in the case of companies

84.1% of Public Administration establishments in the Basque Country used social networks as a tool within the framework of Industry 4.0, according to Eustat data.

As regards the digital transformation of the Administration, the Use of Social Networks was the top indicator of the nine analysed. Cyber Security Activities came in second place with 70.9%. Next was Cloud Computing, with 61.9% of centres paying for this service in order to access information or services through an internet connection from any mobile or fixed device in any location.

Less used were Mobile Applications for Clients (50.3%), the Internet of Things (IoT) with 43.8%, Big Data Analysis, (40.5%), Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems (29.1%), 3D Printers (10.4%) and Robotics (9.0%).

As regards employees in Public Administration, on average, 95.6% used ICT (Information & Communication Technology) systems and 7.8% were ICT specialists. Additionally, over a third of the total personnel (38.3%) had a remote connection via a portable device for professional use.

Meanwhile, the size of the Administration centres made no significant difference to the percentage of employees using ICT.

If we analyse these staff by gender, it is noteworthy that, except for ICT specialists, where the percentage of men (59.9%) was higher than that of women (40.1%), the percentages for ICT use, both having a remote connection and remote working all stood at around 60% for women and 40% for men.

However, greater differences can be seen when analysing by activity branch. To name the most significant, ICT was used in all Healthcare Activities and, although comparatively lower, use was very high in Social, Cultural & Other Activities (85.1%). Likewise, ICT specialists were far more prevalent in Public Administration and Defence (13.2%) than in the remaining activities, and Education-related activities (9.9%) came second in the ranking. In fact, it was in Education where having a remote connection was most common among employees (69.5%). Lastly, the highest proportions of remote workers were observed in Other Activities of the Administration (15.6%) and Public Administration and Defence (7.4%).

As regards Public Administration centres, all of them had staff who used ICT systems. Furthermore, 69.1% had specialists in ICT systems, 83.8% had employees with remote access to their workplace and, as mentioned above, 40.3% of establishments had staff who worked remotely for at least half of their working hours.

5.3% of public sector employees worked remotely in 2024, with this percentage rising to 11.0% in the case of companies

On another note, 40.3% of Public Administration centres had staff who worked remotely in 2024. Likewise, in 2024, 5.3% of public sector employees worked outside their workplace for at least half of the working day on a regular basis, using telematic networks to connect to ICT systems, and can therefore be considered remote workers. In the case of companies, this percentage doubled to 11.0%.

These percentages, although slightly lower than the record figures obtained in 2021 at the height of the pandemic (44% of centres with remote workers and 11.6% of employees teleworking), were much higher than those registered prior to that year and have remained relatively stable since then.

97.3% of Basque companies carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration

As regards the use of e-administration services by Basque companies, 97.3% of them carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration in 2024, either directly, with third parties (consultancies etc.) or through a combination of the two. This means that 61.8% of companies performed some kind of procedure directly, whilst 77.5% did so through third parties.

In the case of companies with 10 or more employees, electronic processing reached 98.3% of establishments. Seeing as these companies had more resources at their disposal due to their greater size, they predominantly carried out procedures directly (88.6%), whereas the percentage of companies that carried out procedures through third parties was lower at 64.3%.

Most of the electronic procedures carried out were to acquire different types of information (72.7%), to obtain documents and forms (69.8%), to return completed documents and forms (66.6%) and to carry out an administrative procedure completely electronically (64.1%). This method was also widely used to declare employees’ social security contributions (66.9%) and complete various types of taxes: mainly VAT (81.7%) and Corporation Tax (62.3%).

As regards the Administration Basque companies carried out these electronic procedures with, two notable examples were the Provincial Councils (89.9%) and the Central Administration (75.1%). These percentages are largely explained by the competencies of both administrations in relation to the main taxes. Next were the Basque Government (66.3%), followed by Local Entities (37.2%) and the European Union and others (12.6%).

In companies with 10 or more employees, the gap between the Basque Government (82.7%) and the Provincial Councils (89.8%) or the Central Administration (88.9%) was considerably lower. The proportion of companies that used e-administration services with Local Entities (56.3%) and the European Union and others (23.1%) also increased significantly.

There was greater availability of equipment and use of Information & Communication Technology within the Administration than in companies

In 2024, 99.4% of Public Administration centres either had their own website or shared one with the entity they belong to. This proportion was 100% for centres with 10 or more employees.

Likewise, almost all Public Administration centres in the Basque Country had basic ICT equipment in 2024. In addition to a website, all public centres had a computer and an internet connection.

Compared to the business sector, the usage rates of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) were higher in public administration centres. In the case of website availability, the difference was 42 percentage points in favour of the Administration (57.4% in the business sector).

The proportion of public sector employees that used ICT equipment in 2024 was also very high: 93.9% of public sector staff used computers and 92.5% had internet access. In the business sector, usage rates amongst staff were lower, at 77.5% and 74.9% respectively.

It should be noted that these high percentages, in both equipment and use by personnel, occurred regardless of the employment strata they belong to. Therefore, the size of the Public Administration centres had almost no influence.

In addition, the majority of centres (99.8%) adopted some form of computer security measure, in particular, establishing secure passwords (99.1%), using updated software (98.9%) and external backups (93.2%).

The Public Administration in the Basque Country places great importance on having an internet presence via a website, as can be seen from the high percentage (99.4%) of centres that had one, whether their own or shared with the entity they belong to, with this percentage reaching 100% in centres with 10 or more employees. In the business sector, the percentage was just 57.4% for all establishments as a whole, but much higher, 92.5%, for companies with 10 or more employees.

In 100% of cases these websites provided general information on the institution. Furthermore, 86.1% had a statement on privacy/confidential data protection, 76.1% had links to the company’s profiles on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), 69.8% had information on job vacancies, and 62.6% had a product catalogue or price list, among other options. In comparison with the business sector, the Administration attached greater importance to posting information on job vacancies, 69.8% versus 27.1% of companies, and accessibility for persons with disabilities, for which provision was made on 48.7% of the Administration’s websites, as opposed to 21.3% of company websites.

Regarding the languages they could be accessed in, Basque and Spanish stood out with the same percentage, 99.0%, whereas 31.1% of websites could be accessed in English and 21.2% in other languages. In the business sector, the availability of websites in Basque was considerably lower (42.1%), as were, to a lesser extent, websites in English (27.9%) or other languages (12.9%).

For further information:

Euskal Estatistika-Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel.: 945 01 75 62