Information Economy: The Internet Becomes More and More the Driving Force Behind Business Success

Today, the Internet is already essential for the success of half of the companies in the German information economy. Most companies in the sector assume that until the end of 2014, the significance of the World Wide Web will increase further. The surveyed companies expect that in the coming years, the Internet will especially contribute to improving the efficiency of client relationship management as well as knowledge and information management. Many companies also believe that the Internet has further potential for improving business processes and transactions, for opening new markets and accessing new costumer groups, as well as for developing innovative products and services. This is the result of a current survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim among some 1,000 companies of the German information economy (see bottom of the press release) with a minimum of five employees.

Currently, the Internet is of great significance for 50.7 per cent of the companies in the information economy. Regarding the three sub-sectors of the information economy, it is the information and communication technology sector (ICT) which, with a share of 70 per cent of companies within this sector, depends most on the Internet when it comes to business success. The Internet is also of great significance for the two other sub-sectors of media service providers (55 per cent) and knowledge-intensive service providers (45 per cent), even if these figures are clearly smaller than those of the ICT sector.

"These numbers, however, are just an interim result", says Dr. Jörg Ohnemus, scientist at the Research Group "Information and Communication Technologies" at ZEW. "After all, nearly 60 per cent of the surveyed companies expect a further increase of the Internet’s significance for business success within the information economy until the end of 2014, while only slightly more than five per cent assume a decreasing importance of the Internet within this period."

Some 59.8 per cent of the surveyed companies expect a more efficient co-operation with clients and external partners due to the growing use of the Internet, and 56.5 per cent anticipate better options for knowledge and information management. Moreover, 45.3 per cent of the companies expect more efficient business processes and transactions. Opening new domestic markets plays an important role for 28.1 per cent of the surveyed companies, and the development of new products and services is of great interest for 26.8 per cent. Minor significance, however, is attached to the Internet when it comes to accessing new costumer groups and opening new markets abroad, as well as increasing energy efficiency (16.3 per cent).

For further information please contact

Dr. Jörg Ohnemus, Phone +49 621/1235354, E-mail ohnemus@zew.de