Technological change in the public sector

According to a new study, Canada's public sector is far ahead of the private sector in adopting new technology and training employees in support of technology change, according to a new study.

Overall, 82% of organizations in the public sector adopted new technologies between 2000 and 2002, almost twice the proportion of 42% among firms in the private sector.

However, the study found that when organizations of the same size were compared, there is little difference in the rates of technology adoption between the two sectors.

For example, in the health care and social assistance sector, 83% of public sector organizations with between 100 and 499 full-time employees had adopted new technology. This was identical to the proportion of organizations with the same number of employees in the private sector.

The paper, one in a series examining technological change in the Canadian economy, is based on data from the 2002 Survey of Electronic Commerce and Technology. It examines the acquisition of significantly improved technologies in the public sector. It also classifies the public sector by employment size groups and provides technological change rates by major sector.

The paper suggests that not all turn-of-the-century technological change within the public sector was directly linked to the Year 2000 phenomena. Public sector organizations appear to refresh their technologies on a continual basis.

These public sector organizations are also highly committed to training in support of technological change, with almost every organization that introduced new technologies also providing training. This rate was almost twice the rate of the overall private sector.

Education and health care are carried out by both the public and private sectors. Overall, the public sector educational and health care institutions are more likely to have adopted technologies than their private sector counterparts.

Methods used to acquire new technology show a strong mix of complex and simple. This suggests that cost effectiveness is an important consideration in the public sector.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4225.

The working paper Technological change in the public sector, 2000-2002 (88F0006XIE2004008, free) and a companion paper An historical comparison of technological change, 1998-2000 and 2000-2002, in the private and public sectors (88F0006XIE2004007, free) are available online.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Louise Earl (613-951-2880), Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division.