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ICT Household Statistics -The Case of Hong Kong, China

Joint UNCTAD-ITU-UNESCAP Regional Workshop onInformation Society Measurements in Asia-Pacific

Bangkok26-28 July 2006

by Ms Agnes LOCensus and Statistics Department

Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionPeople’s Republic of China

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Hong Kong : The FactsHong Kong : The Facts

Hong Kong:

– A Special Administrative Region of China

– HKSAR was established on 1 July 1997

– Being run under the principle of One Country, Two Systems

– Maintains a separate statistical system from that of the mainland of China

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Hong Kong : The FactsHong Kong : The Facts

• Geography– At the south-eastern tip of the mainland of China

– Total area: 1104 square kilometres

– Mean air temperature (2005): 23.3oC

• People– Mid-year population (2005): 6.9 million

– Population growth (2005): 0.8%

– Ethic majority: Chinese

– Expectation of life at birth: among highest in the world

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Hong Kong : The Facts Hong Kong : The Facts (cont’d)(cont’d)

• Economy– Per capita GDP (2005): US$25,625

– GDP growth rate (2005): 7.3% in real term

– Contribution of services sector to GDP (2004): 90%

– Merchandise trade (2005): 11th largest exporter and importer

• Telecommunication Development– A fully liberalised market

– Broadband network covers virtually all commercial buildings and households

– No. of ISPs (March 2006): 186

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Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline

• Major players of ICT household statistics

• Thematic Household Survey (THS) on IT Usage and Penetration

– Survey Methodology

– Data Dissemination

• ICT Household Statistics at a Glance

• Major Issues and Challenges

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Major Players of ICT Household Major Players of ICT Household StatisticsStatistics

1. Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB)

– Main ICT policy maker

– Digital 21 Strategy was set out in 1998

– Goals and targets were updated in 2001 and 2004

2. Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO)

– Coordinator and executive arm of CITB on IT matters

– Policy and strategy advisor on IT matters

– Main source of funding for IT surveys

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3. Census and Statistics Department (C&SD)– Official statistical agency responsible for compilati

on of various ICT statistics including

• IT Household and Business Statistics

• ICT Sector Statistics

• IT Expenditure Statistics

• IT Manpower

• Ecommerce Statistics

Major Players of ICT Household Major Players of ICT Household StatisticsStatistics

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Thematic Household Survey (THS) Thematic Household Survey (THS) on on IT IT Usage and Usage and PenetrationPenetration

• Conducted annually since 2000 –6th round of the survey was conducted during May to Augus

t 2005

–7th round of the survey is being conducted

• A voluntary survey conducted under Part IIIA of the Census and Statistics Ordinance

• Major survey work is commissioned to a private research firm

• C&SD plays a co-ordination and management role throughout different stages of the survey

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Survey CoverageSurvey Coverage

• Sampling Frame

– Register of Quarters (computerised records of permanent quarters with identifiable addresses in built-up areas)

– Register of Segments (records of segments in non-built-up areas with no clearly identifiable addresses)

• Sampling Units

– permanent quarters (in built-up areas)

– segments (in non-built-up areas)

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Sample DesignSample Design

• Sampling Method

– Systematic Replicated Sampling with records in the register of quarters first stratified by geographical area and by type of quarters

• Sample Size

– Covers some 10 000 households

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Questionnaire DesignQuestionnaire Design

• Basic data items covered:– PC and Internet facilities in the household– Usage of PC and Internet at different locations– Usage of electronic business services– Usage of online government services– Awareness of information security

• Conduct review every year to address changing needs, e.g.

– New questions on types of wireless technology used by mobile devices in 2004 survey

– New questions on electronic government services and electronic games in 2005 survey

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Data CollectionData Collection

• Notification letters are sent to respondents at the start of each survey cycle

• Face to face interviews

• Persons aged 10 and over– asked their knowledge of using PC and Internet service

during the past 12 months before enumeration

• Persons aged 15 and over: – further asked about their usage of electronic business ser

vices and electronic government services

• Response rate is about 75%

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Data Quality ControlData Quality Control

• Commissioned Research Firm is required to

– Set up field monitoring system to monitor fieldwork progress and data quality

– Institute measures to increase response rate (e.g. telephone enquiry hotlines; revisit non-response cases by fieldwork supervisors)

– Carry out audit checks to ensure data quality

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Survey Methodology – Survey Methodology – Data Quality ControlData Quality Control

• Census and Statistics Department (C&SD)

On fieldwork monitoring

– Inspect the weekly fieldwork progress submitted by the commissioned research firm

– Send field staff to conduct joint visits

On data quality

– Closely monitor audit check procedures instituted by the commissioned research firm and to ensure that errors are properly recorded and rectified

– Separate sample audit checks with respondents

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Survey Methodology –Survey Methodology – EEstimation methodstimation method

• Adopts ratio estimation method to estimate parameters of the population and household

• where - Estimated population total having characteristic Y

N - Total no. of age-sex group

yi - Sample count of population having characteristic Y in ith age- sex specific group (obtained from THS)

xi - Sample count of population in the ith age-sex specific group (obtain from THS)

Xi - Independent population estimate in the ith age-sex specific group (obtain from Population Data System)

)(ˆ1 i

iN

i

ix

yXY

Y

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Data DisseminationData Dissemination

• Survey results of ICT surveys are released by C&SD within less than 6 months after the survey period

• C&SD’s website serves as a one-stop portal for– Press release of statistical data (including key ICT

statistics)

– Free download* of all survey reports and official statistics

* C&SD has implemented a free download policy for all publications since June 2006

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ICT Household Statistics at a ICT Household Statistics at a GlanceGlance

Chart 1: % of households with personal computer (PC) at home and % of households with PC at home connected to the Internet

% of all households

Jan - Mar2000

Apr - Jun2001

May - Jul2002

May - Aug2003

Jun - Aug2004

May - Aug2005

Households with personal

computer at home

Households with personal computer at home connected to Internet

70.171.167.5

49.7

60.6 62.164.6

36.4

48.752.5

60.0 64.9

0

20

40

60

80

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ICT Household Statistics at a ICT Household Statistics at a GlanceGlance

Chart 2: Percentage of PC users by age group

Age

gro

up

1 – 3 / 1998 1 – 3 / 2000 4 – 6 / 2001 5 – 7 / 2002 5 – 8 / 2003 6 – 8 / 20045 – 8 / 2005

Overall

65 and over

55-64

45-54

35-44

25-34

15-24

10-14

2000 2005

72.8

78.9

65.0

44.5

20.2

6.6

0.6

43.1

97.2

84.1

67.1

43.7

20.5

3.2

58.8

98.8

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Percentage (%)

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ICT Household Statistics at a ICT Household Statistics at a GlanceGlance

Chart 3: Percentage of Internet users by age group

5 – 8 / 2005

Age

gro

up

Overall

65 and over

55-64

45-54

35-44

25-34

15-24

10-14 43.1

64.5

11.5

3.2

0.2

30.3

96.6

96.2

81.9

64.6

41.1

18.4

2.6

56.9

48.1

28.3

0 20 40 60 80 100Percentage (%)

2000 2005

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ICT Household Statistics at a ICT Household Statistics at a GlanceGlance

Chart 4: Percentage of Internet users by major purpose of using Internet service via non-mobile web device in 2005

Percentage (%)

24.8

50.6

54.1

71.4

83.2

37.3

37.4

0 20 40 60 80 100

2005

Communication with others

Browsing/surfing the web pages (excluding Government websites)

Searching for/downloading information online (excluding Government information)

Browsing Government websites/searchingfor or downloading Government

information online

Online digital entertainment

Using electronic business services online

Reading magazines/newspapers online

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Major Issues and ChallengesMajor Issues and Challenges

• Rapid development of ICT makes statistics on PC/Internet penetration rates over years not strictly comparable

• Sometimes difficult to meet the sophisticated needs of data users (e.g. assessing the digital inclusiveness of disadvantaged groups)

• Balancing the needs of data users and the reporting burden of respondents

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Thank You !

C&SD Website: http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/

End