Established in 1999

Continued from FrontPage of Article

ANNEX C

• Almost nine in ten children (aged 10 to 14 years) use the computer and Internet for communications, learning and play. The proportion of children in this age group is highest amongst the three age groups surveyed. This is one of the key findings in the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) "2006 Annual Survey on Infocomm Usage in Households and by Individuals"

• The second highest proportion of Infocomm users are our youth and adults (aged 15 to 59 years), with about seven in ten using the computer and Internet extensively for communications and leisure activities. The elderly (aged 60 and above) are also Infocomm users. Three in ten use the computer, while two in ten have accessed the Internet in the past year.

• To better understand the Infocomm trend among the younger and elderly population in Singapore, Infocomm adoption and usage for two groups of individuals, those aged below 15 years and those aged 60 years and above, were included in the 2006 Survey for the first time.

• The 2006 Survey found that Infocomm has become an integral part of Singaporeans' lives, be it for work, learning or at play. 78 per cent of households in Singapore have access to at least one computer at home in 2006, compared to 74 per cent in 2005. 38 per cent have access to two or more computers in 2006, compared to 28% in 2005. Home Internet penetration also rose to reach 71 per cent in 2006.

Digital divide in Singapore narrows

• The digital divide has narrowed between income groups. The 2006 Survey found that the gap between households in public housing and private housing has narrowed. In 2005, the difference in their home computer penetration rates was 25 per cent. This has since reduced to 18 per cent in 2006. Similarly, for home Internet penetration, the difference has been reduced by 10 per cent.

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• The 2006 Survey also found an increase in home computer penetration for households with school-going children, from 86 per cent in 2005 to 88 per cent today. By 2015, the goal is to see 100 per cent in home computer ownership for households with school-going children. The recently announced NEU PC Plus programme is one of the Infocomm bridges" that will help to enable needy students to have access to Infocomm through providing subsidies for them to purchase computers with Internet access. IDA will continue to build an inclusive digital society, where Infocomm is used as a powerful enabler for everyone.

• With more Singaporeans getting connected, they are also realising the importance of cyber-defence. The 2006 Survey found that about eight in ten Internet users protected their computers with virus-checking software, while six in ten users have installed anti-spyware and firewall.
• The 2006 Survey also found that more than half of Internet users experienced virus attacks, and three in ten internet users experienced loss and damage from such attacks.

• The 2006 Survey is the 11^th in the series conducted by IDA since 1990. Data collection was done via face-to-face interviews from 18 October to 17 November 2006. 2,500 households and 2,810 individuals were interviewed. The household listings were drawn from a sampling frame provided by the Department of Statistics.

More Details

• Please visit our website, www.ida.gov.sg, under "Facts and Figures", "Surveys" for the executive summary of the key findings of the 2006 Survey.

• IDA will be releasing more detailed findings by the first quarter of 2007.

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