Press Release 24/11/2025

Information Society Survey. ESI-Administration. 2025

73.4% of the Public Administration centers in the Basque Country carry out cybersecurity activities

6.1% of employees in the Public Administration worked remotely, compared to 11.0% of people employed in companies

According to Eustat data, the use of social networks was widespread within the Administration of the Basque Country, as was the implementation of digital security activities: 85.6% of centres used social networks and 73.4% participated in cybersecurity activities.

A comparative analysis of the Administration sector and the business sector shows that the former had higher levels of Industry 4.0 technology adoption than the latter. The use of social networks for business purposes in the public administration stood at 85.6% for establishments as a whole, compared to 53.8% in companies. The difference was more pronounced when it came to the use of the Internet of Things (IoT), where the Administration accounted for 45.8% of all establishments, while the Business sector represented 14.3%. In the case of Cybersecurity Activities, the percentages varied between 73.4% in the Public Administration and 24.8% in Companies, and for Big Data, they ranged from 41.6% to 12.2%. Differences between the two sectors were also observed with regard to less widely implemented technologies, such as the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems (29.5% in the Administration sector compared to 8.7% in the Business sector), the Use of 3D Printers (10.6% compared to 2.9%) and the Use of Robotics (9.7% compared to 2.6%).

In the subset of establishments with 10 or more employees, although both sectors recorded higher levels than for establishments as a whole, the Administration maintained a significant advantage over the Business sector.

As regards employees in Public Administration, on average, 95.4% used ICT (Information & Communication Technology) systems and 8.2% were ICT specialists. Additionally, over a third of the total personnel (40.7%) 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.

When looking at staff by gender, it is worth noting that it was only in the ICT systems specialists group that there were more men (59.4%) than women (40.6%). By contrast, in activities such as the use of ICT, remote access and teleworking, women were in the majority: around 60% compared to 40% for men. Regarding the use of remote connection and enjoying teleworking, women are also the majority: around 60%, compared to 40% of men.

However, greater differences can be seen when analysing by activities. 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 (84.8%). Likewise, ICT specialists were far more prevalent in Public Administration and Defence (12.5%) than in the remaining activities, with Education-related activities and Other activities of the Administration (both with 10.7%) coming second in the ranking. In fact, it was in Education where having a remote connection was most common among employees (71.2%). Lastly, the highest proportions of remote workers were observed in Other Activities of the Administration (19.0%) and Public Administration and Defence (7.4%).

As regards Public Administration centres, all of them had staff who used ICT systems. Furthermore, 68.9% had specialists in ICT systems, 83.9% had employees with remote access to their workplace and, as mentioned above, 39.2% of establishments had staff who worked remotely for at least half of their working hours.

6.1% of public sector employees worked remotely in 2025, a percentage that rises to 11.0% in the case of companies

On another note, 39.2% of Public Administration centres had staff who worked remotely in 2025. Likewise, in 2025, 6.1% 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.

97.7% of Basque companies carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration

As regards the use of e-administration services by Basque companies, 97.7% of them carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration in 2025, either directly, with third parties (consultancies etc.) or through a combination of the two. This means that 62.1% of companies performed some kind of procedure directly, whilst 80.5% did so through third parties.

In the case of companies with 10 or more employees, electronic processing reached 98.7% of establishments. Seeing as these companies had more resources at their disposal due to their greater size, they predominantly carried out procedures directly (88.7%), whereas the percentage of companies that carried out procedures through third parties was lower at 66.0%.

Most of the electronic procedures carried out were to acquire different types of information (75.9%), to obtain documents and forms (72.1%), to return completed documents and forms (65.8%) and to carry out an administrative procedure completely electronically (61.3%). This method was also widely used to declare employees’ social security contributions (66.2%) and complete various types of taxes: mainly VAT (82.0%) and Corporation Tax (59.3%).

As regards the Administration Basque companies carried out these electronic procedures with, two notable examples were the Provincial Councils (89.3%) and the Central Administration (74.4%). These percentages are largely explained by the competencies of both administrations in relation to the main taxes. Next were the Basque Government (66.5%), followed by Local Entities (41.0%) and the European Union and others (11.7%).

In companies with 10 or more employees, the gap between the Basque Government (85.3%) and the Provincial Councils (90.5%) or the Central Administration (89.4%) was considerably lower. The proportion of companies that used e-administration services with Local Entities (58.8%) and the European Union and others (26.0%) also increased significantly.

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

In 2025, 99.6% 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. In the case of the business sector, the percentage is limited to 57.1% for all establishments and, more closely, to 92.9% for companies with ten or more employees.

Likewise, almost all Public Administration centres in the Basque Country had basic ICT equipment in 2025. 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 (57.1% in the business sector).

The proportion of public sector employees that used ICT equipment in 2025 was also very high: 93.7% of public sector staff used computers and 92.2% had internet access. In the business sector, usage rates amongst staff were lower, at 77.6% and 74.5%, 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 (99.9%) adopted some form of computer security measure, in particular, using updated software (99.7%), as well as establishing secure passwords (99.5%) and external backups (90.2%).

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 (99.6%) 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 57.1% for all establishments as a whole, but much higher, 92.9%, for companies with 10 or more employees.

In 99.8% of cases these websites provided general information on the institution. Furthermore, 84.8% had a statement on privacy/confidential data protection, 76.0% had links to the company’s profiles on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), 71.4% had information on job vacancies, and 60.4% 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, 71.4% versus 28.5% of companies, and accessibility for persons with disabilities, for which provision was made on 49.3% of the Administration’s websites, as opposed to 21.2% of company websites.

Regarding the languages they could be accessed in, Basque and Spanish stood out with very similar percentages (97.9% and 99.3%), whereas 30.1% of websites could be accessed in English and 23.3% in other languages. In the business sector, the availability of websites in Basque was considerably lower (43.2%), as were, to a lesser extent, websites in English (27.3%) or other languages (12.2%).

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