The European Commission (EC) has recently released the results of the 2016 edition of the Digitality index of Economy and Society https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/desi (DESI 2016). The findings show that, since publication of the Commission's Digital Single Market Strategy in 2015, Member States have made progress in areas such as connectivity and digital skills, as well as in public services.
Portugal is among the five EU countries to have made most progress over the last year and to report an above average result in digital performance. Portugal has climbed to 14th position in the European ranking, according to the results of DESI 2016, and, on a scale from 0 to 1, Portugal obtained an overall score of 0.53 points, slightly above the EU average (0.52 points).
The Index is based on indicators structured around five principal dimensions - connectivity, human capital, use of Internet, integration of digital technology and digital public services; the results show that Portugal has advanced online public services (ranked 8th place in this category among the 28 Member States) and above-average performance when it comes to the digitisation of businesses and in terms of good broadband network coverage, with fast internet available to 91% of households.
Nevertheless, the European Commission maintains that, at this stage, "the country's greatest challenge is to improve the digital skills of its citizens (about half of the population doesn't have basic digital skills) and to bring them online (28% have never used the Internet) so that they can fully participate in the digital economy and society".
Further information:
- How digital is your country? New figures show action needed to unlock Europe's potential http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-384_en.htm
