ANACOM has today released the final report on the latest study on the impact of e-initiatives (encompassing the e-school, e-teacher and e-opportunities programmes) and the appraisal of related policies in terms of the take-up and use of communication technologies – especially broadband. This study was conducted by the consultants KPMG, the external body selected through public tender.
The results of the survey conducted as part of this study point to a direct positive impact on subscribers and their families (especially in terms of greater regularity of computer and Internet use). According to data from GEPE - Gabinete de Estatística e Planeamento da Educação (Office of Eductional Statistics and Planning) of the Ministry of Education (GEPE) and FCM - Fundação para as Comunicações Móveis (Foundation for Mobile Communications), the rate of take-up of e-initiatives in April 2009 (date of the most recent data available to ANACOM) is reported at around 41 per cent (compared to 38 per cent in November 2008 data from the previously published study); this value is close to the one attained through the survey of the current study, concluded in October 2009 (43.8 per cent).
Furthermore, take-up rates, particularly in the e-school programme, have tended to be greater in inland regions than along the coast, suggesting that the e-initiatives have driven take-up in areas where subscription to broadband provided according to normal commercial conditions has been proceeding at a slower pace. Cost emerges as the key factor motivating take-up of e-initiatives, whereas mobility (e.g. portable computers and mobile internet) is also relevant to a significant number of participants in the e-school and e-teacher programmes.
The study also reveals that between 91 and 96 per cent of participants (in terms of the programme) come from families which had computers (mostly desktops) before joining, suggesting that the mobility provided by a portable computer is a valued factor, particularly, according to the same source, in the case of the e-school and e-teacher programmes.
The majority of participants in the programmes come from families who already have access to the Internet (around 86 per cent in the e-teacher programme, 82 per cent in the e-school programme and 62 per cent in the e-opportunities programme), mostly through fixed access, again pointing to the value given to mobility in Internet access.
Consult:
- Study on the take-up and impact of e-initiatives - Final Report https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1001017
