InvestSlovenia

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Strengths of the ICT in Slovenia:

Modern basic IT and telecommunication infrastructure

Electronic Signatures Act

Open market for foreign investors and ICT equipment suppliers

Mobile phones per 1,000 inhabitants

Personal computers per 1,000 inhabitants

Internet users per 1,000 inhabitants

Slovenia has a relatively well-developed ICT infrastructure, as measured by the degree of digitalisation, per capita fixed and mobile phones, internet servers, PCs, and cable TV connections.

Fixed telephone lines per 1,000 inhabitants

Source: Eurostat, eEurope+ 2003, RIS, (2001, 2002).

The position of Slovenia with respect to the availability of personal computers per 1,000 inhabitants is very close to the EU-15 average for the last years. It is the best of the 10 analysed new EU members, and ahead of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Personal computers per 1,000 inhabitants

Source: Eurostat, European Information Technology Observatory 2002, RIS, (2001, 2002).

For an indicator, internet users per 1,000 inhabitants Slovenia is again close to the EU-15 average, after diverse developments in the last years. It is ahead of most EU-25 countries. With respect to the indicator internet hosts per 100 inhabitants Slovenia in 2001 reached about 42% of the average of EU-15.

Users of internet per 1,000 inhabitants

Source: Eurostat, eEurope+ 2003, RIS, (2001, 2002).

Regarding mobile phone subscribers (ITU data) Slovenia fares best among the four indicators analysed. In 2001, only seven countries out of EU-25 compared were ahead of Slovenia, which experienced further growth in the last two years.

Mobile phones per 1,000 inhabitants

Source: Eurostat, eEurope+ 2003, RIS, (2001, 2002).

Information technology is being quickly adopted in both business and private usage, following the fast technological developmental trends in the EU. Important public and private investments have been made to expand networks and usage not only in traditional business but also in banks, schools, libraries, and medical institutions. While identifying opportunities for increasing automation, productivity, and efficiency, Slovenian companies are increasingly considering IT investments as vital strategic decisions.

ICT spending per capita

Source: European Information Technology Observatory 2002, Eurostat.