These are the main questions addressed in the part of the report devoted to the analysis of the Belgian ICT manufacturing sector. As in other countries, the ICT manufacturing sector was dynamic in the second half of the 1990s, but overall its importance in terms of value added or employment in Belgium is small compared to the leading ICT countries. The second part of the report analyzes the prevalence of ICT in Belgium compared to the average of the European Union and the USA1.
In terms of the traditionally used telecommunications infrastructure (fixed telephony), Belgium has lagged behind its European partners and the USA in the past. In addition, Belgium was for a long time one of the most expensive European countries in terms of internet costs, which deterred potential users.
II Introduction
Defining the ICT sector
Some activities are not fully related to ICT (eg 3130 or 5150), while other ICT sectors are not considered. This is especially true of the "content industry", which produces and disseminates information through electronic devices. In this report, as far as possible, figures related to substantive activities will be added, looking at the Belgian situation.
III Importance of ICT sectors for the Belgian Economy
Belgium in an international perspective
- The world ICT market
- Which are the most important producing countries?
- The United States, the United Kingdom and two Scandinavian countries (Sweden and Finland);
- The other Scandinavian countries (Norway and Denmark) and Anglo- Saxon countries (Canada and Ireland) as well as Austria;
- The south of Europe: Greece and Spain
- International trade
Finland, Japan, Sweden and the USA1 have a much stronger ICT manufacturing base (from 2.6% to 3.9% of business sector value added), while for most European economies the share of ICT industry is around 1-1.5% of business sector value added value added. At the other extreme, Belgium is at the bottom of the league of European countries in terms of ICT production. Only 1% of the business sector's value added comes from this sector, a level similar to that seen in Italy or Portugal.
This applies especially to industrial ICT activities, where labor productivity has increased significantly in recent years. Labor productivity in the US is already one of the highest in the world. Of all OECD countries, the US ICT sector has the highest labor productivity compared to the rest of the economy, which could explain the strong development of these activities in this country.
The development of the ICT sector in Belgium
- A contribution to GDP of 5.5%
- A growing number of firms
- Nearly 200,000 workers in the ICT sector (160,000 wage earners and at least 23,000 self-employed)
- Contribution to external trade
As can be seen from table 5, content activities are far from minor; more than 40,000 people work in that field and their numbers have increased in the last six years. As expected, this sector is more dynamic than the rest of the economy: the increase in employment reached 10% in the ICT sector compared to less than 5% in the economy as a whole. Recent figures published by the EC1 show that the downward trend has been reversed in most countries: from 1996 to 2000, due to the arrival of new operators, employment in the telecommunications.
In Belgium, both the number of workers and the number of self-employed persons in computer activities have doubled since 1993. In the field of equipment, trade is important due to strong import-export activities and the development of the wholesale sector.
Future prospects for the ICT sector in Belgium
- Control of firms, market structure and autonomy of decision
- R & D capacities
- Innovation financing and ICT firms
The correlation between the two is clear even if the direction of the correlation is not. The most specialized countries in that sector (Finland, Sweden, Japan and the USA) have important R&D capabilities in information and communication technology compared to the European core economies, among which Belgium is one of the poorest. One of the main obstacles to innovation is the ability of new technology-based firms to raise sufficient funding.
Venture capital (VC) is one of the main sources of financing for risky projects. VC is the sum of seed and start-up capital plus expansion capital. The following graph shows that a relationship can also be established between the development of ICT.
IV ICT diffusion
- Diffusion of internet infrastructure
- Diffusion of IT infrastructure
- Diffusion of telecommunication infrastructure
- Internet content diffusion
- Diffusion of e-commerce
- commerce transactions pass through secured web servers which allow the encryption of confidential data. The following graph plots the number of
- Diffusion of B 2 C
- commerce in Belgium, as in other countries, remains highly concentrated on few products as 70% of online return comes from five products: hotel reservations
- Diffusion of B 2 B
- B 2 B accounts for 70 to 85% of all online sales and is expected to undergo tremendously rapid development. These figures are confirmed by a survey of
This first perspective can be supplemented by another indicator based on surveys, the number of Internet users as a percentage of the population plotted on the following graph. The profile of the new Belgian surfer is changing in relation to the expansion of Internet distribution among the population. This survey also determined that new internet users are on average less well educated than the early adopters of the internet.
In March 2001, only 46% of the total number of links had been used during the two months prior to the survey (Table 9). The usefulness of the Internet is also determined by the information and services available on the Web. The number of sites, per 1,000 inhabitants, in each country gives a first idea of the development of local Internet content.
If the physical location of the sites does not influence the development of domestic content, it is important to analyze the level of development of the underlying infrastructure. In other words, the ranking of websites provides a clear indication of the relative competitiveness of Internet infrastructures. However, the limited number of surveys and case studies1 show a clear preponderance of the US as a preferred location for websites.
Once again, this table gives an indication of the underdevelopment of web content in Belgium, although the figures are better than the figures for the number of websites. Another important aspect of internet content sites is the possibility of online trading, called e-commerce. As in other European countries, the use of the Internet in Belgian companies is gradually expanding to all industries.
V Determinants of ICT diffusion
- Technical determinants and alternative technologies
- Price levels and structures
- Privacy Act and securitization of transactions
- Education
- Aptitude for ICT integration
But the main expected improvement in this technology consists of the third generation of mobile phones called UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System2) which will offer a transfer speed of 2 Mbps and a direct connection to the Internet. As illustrated in the previous table, the Belgian position is relatively good in terms of cable network availability. This happens, for example, at the national railway company (SNCB), which has developed a fiber optic network along its railways.
The connection costs have two dimensions: one is the cost of telephone communication and the other is the cost of the service offered by the ISP. Internet proliferation seems to be greatly facilitated by connection costs, independent of the time of connection. In addition, Belgium was the most expensive or one of the most expensive countries in terms of Internet tariffs (see tables in the statistical appendix).
One of the most important steps forward is the creation of a consortium consisting of 11 banks and financial institutions and 3 mobile leaders (Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson) to transform the mobile phone into a real payment and. The European Union estimates that the deficit is 800,000 vacancies currently in the European area. One of the main priorities in this area is providing the necessary infrastructure in terms of computers and connections in schools.
The European Union, and Belgium in particular, seems to have only recently realized the importance of the education system for the spread of new technologies. In conclusion, although the Internet consists of a worldwide web, domestic conditions play an important role in a country's ability to take advantage of new technologies. It is a concept that spans a wide range of factors, from the sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure to the security of credit card transactions and the literacy of the population.
VI Annexe
Note: The figure for the EU is the unweighted average of the number of IT companies in 14 EU member states (no data for Luxembourg). Note: The figure for the EU is the sum of the telecommunications market value of 15 EU member states. Note: The figure for the EU is the sum of the public telecommunications investment in the 15 EU member states.
Note: the figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of computers used in the 15 EU member states to the total population in the EU. Note: the figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of websites by ccTLD of the 15 EU member states to the total population in the EU. Note: the figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of websites (weighted by gTLD) of the 15 EU member states to the total population in the EU.
Note: The EU figure is the ratio of the total number of Internet hosts in 15 EU Member States to the total population in the EU. Note: The figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of main lines in the 15 EU Member States to the total population in the EU. Note: The figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of fixed telecommunication channels in the 15 EU Member States to the total population in the EU.
Note: The figure for the EU is the ratio of the total number of telecommunications access paths in the 15 EU member states to the total population in the EU. Source: OECD (2000), Cellular mobile phone price structures and trends and for 1998 & 1999: OECD (2001), Communications outlook Note: the figure for the EU is an unweighted average of the 15 EU member states. Note: EU1DEIN8 is the weighted average of the % digital access lines in the EU.
Note: The variable EU1 is the ratio between the total number of kilometers of fiber optic cables in the EU countries (with data) and the total population in the EU with the exception of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden (no data for 1995 -1996). Note: the average for the EU is the ratio between the total number of kilometers of fiber optic cable in the EU countries (with data) and the total area of the EU. Note: The variable EU1 is the ratio between the total number of kilometers of fiber optic cable in the EU countries (with data) and the total area of the EU with the exception of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden (no data for 1995-1996).
Note 1: The figure for the EU is a weighted average of the number of outages in 12 EU Member States (no data for Denmark, UK and Ireland).
VII Bibliography
Eurydice, “Technologies de l'information et de la communication dans les systemes éducatifs en Europe”, 2000. Federal Office for Planning, Van Sebroeck H., “Financing innovation with venture capital - update of the EUBenchmarking pilot project from Bel. - gian Perspective”, WP. Grid Electronic Publishing Consultancy-Lentic, “Electronic Information Services Industry in Belgium, December 1999, Research and Report for EC(DGXIII) and SSTC.
Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de l'Industrie, "Technologies et Société de l'Information", édition 1999, France. OCDE, « Perspectives des technologies de l'information de l'OCDE ; TIC, commerce électronique et économie de l'information », 2000.