An Historical Comparison of Technological Change, 1998-2000 and 2000-2002, in the Private and Public Sectors - ARCHIVED

This paper presents data on technological change that have been made comparable from the Survey of Electronic Commerce and Technology (SECT) for 2000 and 2002. It shows that when comparable data for the 1998 to 2000 and 2000 to 2002 periods (based on the definition and survey universe employed by SECT 2000) are used, the propensity to adopt new technologies in the private sector has remained constant at about 40%. The rate of technology adoption in the public sector remained at four out of five organizations introducing significantly improved technologies (a level about twice as high as that for the private sector). This rate also shows little change from 2000. The paper presents the comparable technological change data, while explaining differences in the wording of the survey questions and universe between the two reference years. Information is provided for private and public sectors, selected employment size groups and sectors of both private and public sectors.