Digital infrastructure

We don’t often see it, but digital infrastructure is everywhere, connecting us to our digital life. It includes the networks, cybersecurity, systems, programmes, and data we need to access the Internet and use our connected devices. It’s how we work, access support services and interact with our families, friends, colleagues, and wider society.

Here’s how we measured the effects of digital infrastructure on our lives:

Access: Share of population with access to at least a 4G mobile broadband network
Affordability: Cost of data-only mobile broadband
Inequality: Ratio of internet usage of the top 20% income quintile relative to the bottom 20%

Work and job quality

New technologies won’t necessarily lead directly to job losses. But they could change the type of jobs we do and how we work. Less tedious or dangerous tasks in a faster-paced workplace could offer us more time for more interesting tasks. And while AI can make us more efficient, it can also pose serious ethical challenges, including biases against women, people with disabilities, and ethnic or racial minorities.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on your work and job:

Digital technology at work: Share of employed individuals regularly using a computer in their work
Digital collaboration: Share of individuals reporting an increase in the ease of collaboration due to use of computers, laptops, smartphones, etc.
Digital autonomy: Share of individuals reporting an increase in independence in organising their tasks due to use of computers, laptops, smartphones, etc.

Health

How technology shows up in our life, how we're exposed to it, how we use it and what we use it for can impact our physical and mental health. Our health care systems are digitising medical records, expanding virtual healthcare access, and innovating treatment and consultation options with sensors, wearable technology, and other types of devices.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on your health:

Virtual healthcare: Individuals using telemedicine or teleconsultations
Virtual health information: Share of individuals using the internet to seek health-related information
Health-related apps: Share of individuals who have purchased health or fitness apps in the past 3 months
Health-related digital devices: Share of individuals who have used internet-connected devices to monitor health or medical care

Knowledge and skills

Having the right skills can help us thrive, enjoy, and connect in our digital lives. That’s why every level of education is embracing the specialised and problem-solving skills we need to get the most from digital technologies.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on our knowledge and skills:

Digital time: Hours spent on digital resources
Digital reskilling: Share of businesses that provided training to develop Information and communication technology (ICT)-related skills in the past year
Digital skills gender gap: Ratio of women having the ICT-related skills needed to cope with more demanding duties at work relative to men

Environmental quality

Digital life has a growing impact on our environment. Direct effects can come from the valuable resources we use to produce and consume digital products or mine cryptocurrencies. While indirect effects can come from how digital technology makes life more resource and energy efficient, and more so every day.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on the quality of our environment:

Emissions footprint: Carbon dioxide emissions of the information industry relative to other business and services industries
Resource efficiency: Total economy E-waste collection and recycling
Green behaviour: Share of individuals who purchased a digital device due to eco-design

Life satisfaction

New ways of working and communicating come with distinct challenges and opportunities. Technology-related stress or “technostress” is one real example. Knowing what causes it – IT malfunctions, poor design, security breaches, ease of access, constant change – is how we can help improve mental health, workplace and life satisfaction, and boost productivity.

Currently, there is no comparable statistical data we can use to measure the effect of digital technology on our life satisfaction. That’s why we’re asking about your digital experiences in our survey.

Personal safety

It's natural to want to feel safe in all aspects of our lives. Crime, conflict, harassment, and other challenges to our well-being can harm us in our digital life, just as they do in the real world. We need to know how to protect ourselves and have the right regulations and security technologies working together to protect our personal data.

Here’s how we measured the effect digital technology can have on your personal safety:

Personal data protection: Share of individuals who have experienced abuse of personal information or privacy violations online
Cyber-security readiness: Share of individuals who have caught a virus or other computer infections
Sensitive data risks: Share of individuals not buying online due to payment security concerns

Work-life balance

Our ability to connect anywhere, at any moment, has changed how we experience time, blurring the lines between our personal lives, work or in the classroom. It can place strains on how we balance work and home, our studies and our family, and other parts we value in life.

Here’s how we measured the effect digital technology can have on your work-life balance:

Hybrid work: Share of individuals who sometimes or usually telework
Irregular working hours induced by digital technologies: Share of individuals reporting an increase in irregular working hours due to use of computers, laptops, smartphones, etc.
Online screen time: Share of children using the internet

Social connections

Television and the telephone changed the way we connect with each other. And it's the same for new and emerging digital technologies with many people continuing to debate the quality and quantity of social connections we make in our digital lives.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on your social connections:

Social media inequality: Ratio of social media usage of the top 20% income quintile relative to the bottom 20%
Social media risks: Children experiencing cyberbullying

Civic engagement

Digital technologies create new ways for people to protest, advocate, receive and share information, and access public services. The internet has brought public and private entities closer to the citizens and clients they serve. But people need the skills and tools to know what and who they can trust.

Here's how we measured the effect digital technology can have on our engagement as citizens:

Online public consultation: Share of individuals using the Internet for visiting or interacting with public authorities' websites
Exposure to misinformation: Share of individuals who have seen untrue or doubtful information or content on internet news sites or social media
Online government readiness: Share of individuals who had difficulties when using a website or app of public authorities

The OECD Digital Well-being Hub with Cisco