19th July 2015

Competitiveness: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015: Czech ICT sector produces ever greater value added

 

According to the 2015 OECD Digital Economy Outlook published on 15 July 2015, the share of ICT goods and services on total value added in the Czech Republic increased by 1.2 percentage points between 2001 and 2013 (Estonia and Slovenia +0.9 percentage points; other OECD countries faced a decrease, due to the  financial crisis or following the dot-com bubble)...In 2013, the share of ICT value added produced by foreign affiliates (i.e. local firms owned or controlled by a foreign company) was as high as 80% in Estonia, above 75% in Hungary, 65% in the Slovak Republic and about 60% in the Czech Republic and Poland...Lower ICT R&D expenditures reflect specialisation in activities with low technological intensity (e.g. Italy and Spain) or at the lower end of the value chain (e.g. Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary).

In a 2014 OECD survey, 26 out of 29 countries rated building broadband infrastructure as their top priority and 19 of 28 countries put digital privacy and security second and third. Asked about the future, countries placed skills development as their top objective, followed by public service improvements and digital content creation...

Over 2001-2013, the employment weight of ICT decreased in countries with a large ICT sector and increased in countries with a smaller ICT sector. One likely explanation is that the crisis fostered rationalisation in large national ICT sectors and favoured ICT firms in countries with lower labour costs...“

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Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic