Information and Communication Technology Supply

Background to the ICT Supply: Services and Software Survey A review of the existing need for ICT data took place in 2013/2014, with a view to ceasing the survey. It was established that MBIE, who along with National Accounts were the major ICT Supply stakeholder, no longer had a need for data collected in the ICT Supply survey. Their ongoing interest was that it provided an additional tool to monitor the sector. However, National Accounts needed data for GFKF purposes. They require published software, IT support services, design and development services, and hosting and infrastructure provisioning services. At that time, it was decided that the ICT Supply survey would be run for the last time in 2014, and in future, admin data would be used to model the figures needed by National Accounts. In 2017, National Accounts attempted to model these figures based on historic and admin data and it was concluded that they did not have confidence in the proposed model. As a result, a reduced version of the ICT Supply survey was run that year and provided the figures required to meet National Accounts’ need. In 2019, 2021, and 2023 the same survey as 2017 was rerun in order to update figures for National Accounts. Statistical unit A statistical unit is the level at which a survey can be designed - and forms the basis of sample selection. The statistical unit used in the ICT Supply Survey is the enterprise, and it is also the level at which we collect the information from (i.e. the selection unit). Enterprises are selected from the Stats NZ Business Register, which is a comprehensive database of all known individual, private, and public sector businesses and organisations engaged in producing goods and services in New Zealand that meet significance criteria. Its primary purpose is as a statistical register, or frame, for the various business surveys operated by Stats NZ. The Business Register provides a consistent reference to standard classifications, which helps to integrate statistical outputs. The register also provides links to all economic and financial survey data, and the tax system, which means a more effective use of tax data that reduces respondent load. Each statistical unit is given an industry classification based on its predominant activity. Different divisions of a company may be spread across several industries, depending on how the company is structured. If a business is divided into different divisions, this can mean that the ICT results might not fully capture all of their ICT sales, as they might fall under an out of scope industry. Population Units that satisfied criteria based on RME, ANZSIC06, and GST, are extracted from the Stats NZ Business Register. The criteria used for the ICT Supply Survey is all economically significant enterprises with a Rolling Mean Employment (RME) of 2 or more, or have more than $1 million GST sales, and within selected ANZSIC06 codes. These ANZSIC codes are: C241900 Other Professional and Scientific Equipment Manufacturing F349200 Computer and Computer Peripheral Wholesaling F349300 Telecommunication Goods Wholesaling F349400 Other Electrical and Electronic Goods Wholesaling G426000 Department stores G422200 Computer and computer peripheral retailing J542000 Software Publishing J562200 Cable and other subscription broadcasting J570000 Internet publishing and broadcasting J580100 Wired Telecommunications Network Operation J580900 Other Telecommunications Services J591000 Internet Service Providers and Web Search Portals J592100 Data Processing and Web Hosting Services J592200 Electronic Information Storage Services M700000 Computer System Design and Related Services S942200 Electronic (except Domestic Appliance) and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance For ANZSIC06 codes that contain businesses who may or may not be in scope of the population, only those that include ICT-relevant keywords in their “main activities”, “enterprise names”, and “income sources” are selected for the population. This ensures that we only survey enterprises who are involved in ICT activities. This process is applied to the following ANZSICs: L663900 Other Goods and Equipment Rental and Hiring (not elsewhere classified) C241200 Medical and Surgical Equipment Manufacturing The words used in the keyword search were: COMPUTER AUDIO VISUAL EFTPOS SOFTWARE LED PRODUCTION CAMERA PHONE PROF SYSTEM OFFICE EQUIPMENT ELECTRONIC ALARM MEDICAL DEVICE MEDICAL EQUIP LABORATORY EQUIP EQUIPMENT FOR VISUALLY SCIENTIFIC Business Types were also taken into consideration when selecting the ICT Supply Survey population. The following is a list of all Business Types in the 1996 classification. The enterprises in the ICT Supply population include the following business types: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13. Therefore trusts and charitable trusts are included in our population, however there are very few of them. Trusts and charitable trusts are treated like any other enterprise in the survey – if they have ICT sales, their sales are included. Business types 4, 10, 14, and 20 are excluded from the ICT population. Business Type - New Zealand Standard Classification 1996 Code Descriptor In Scope for ICT Supply Survey 01 Individual Proprietorship Yes 02 Partnership Yes 03 Registered Limited Liability Company (non-Co-op) Yes 04 Co-operative Companies No 05 Joint Ventures and Consortia Yes 06 Branches of Companies Incorporated Overseas Yes 07 Government Owner Trading Entity Yes 08 Central Government Yes 09 Local Authority Trading Enterprise (LATE) Yes 10 Local Government No 11 Incorporated and Unincorporated Societies and Associations Yes 12 Charitable Trusts Yes 13 Trust / Estates Yes 14 Consulates and Foreign Embassies No 20 Other Business Types No ANZSICs no longer included in the ICT Supply Survey since 2017: C242100 Computer and Electronic Office Equipment Manufacturing C242200 Communication Equipment Manufacturing C242900 Other Electronic Equipment Manufacturing C243100 Electric Cable and Wire Manufacturing F349100 Professional and Scientific Goods Wholesaling J580200 Other Telecommunications Network Operations E323200 Electrical Services F349900 Other Machinery and Equipment Wholesaling F380000 Commission-Based Wholesaling G422100 Electrical, Electronic and Gas Appliance Retailing G424300 Toy and Game Retailing M696200 Management Advice and Related Consulting Services N729900 Other Administrative Services N729400 Call Centre Operation O771200 Investigation and Security Services The population size is usually around 3,000 – 4,000 businesses. Sample A stratified sampling methodology is used to select a sample from the target population of the ICT Supply Survey. We developed strata based on industries defined by ANZSIC06 (i.e. M700000 vs all other ANZSICs). Substrata were then developed using RME (rolling mean employment) and annual GST from the Statistics NZ Business Register. These are both captured from tax data. We made some of these substrata full coverage, meaning we selected all enterprises in the substratum for the survey. These units were identified as 'keys' for intensive attention in the data collection phase, since they had significant ICT sales, GST sales, or RME. ANZSIC06 Size Sampling method M700000 Large RME or GST Sales – more than $20,893,841 GST or more than 639.65 RME Full coverage M700000 Medium RME or GST Sales – more than $1,402,497 GST or more than 42.53 RME Full coverage M700000 Small RME or GST Sales – less than $1,402,497 GST (does not include units with missing GST) and less than 42.53 RME Sample Any except M700000 Large RME or GST Sales – more than $100 million GST or more than 263.23 RME Full coverage Any except M700000 Medium RME or GST Sales - more than $5,189,609 GST or more than 26.83 RME Full coverage Any except M700000 Small RME or GST Sales – less than $5,189,609 GST (does not include units with missing GST) and less than 26.83 RME Sample The sample size is usually around 2,000 businesses. Sample maintenance Sample maintenance is the process that maintains the sample over time, to reflect 'births', 'deaths', and other structural changes identified on the Business Register. Business Register changes can be from a variety of sources, including GST registrations and respondent contact. We identify new enterprises when they register for GST. Once a year, the new enterprises are selected into the sample using the same criteria as the original sample. These are referred to as births. When an enterprise ceases trading, we remove them from the survey. These are referred to as deaths. Enterprises can also enter or leave the survey sample if they are reclassified to a different industry. Reclassifications occur when an enterprise changes its main form of activity (e.g. from ‘Corporate Head Office Management Services’ to ‘Computer Systems Design and Related Services’). We usually identify these in the Business Register Update Survey conducted in February of each year. Sample reselection We select the sample for the ICT Supply Survey every two years to ensure the sample reflects changes occurring in the ICT population. Questionnaire The questionnaire for the ICT Supply Survey is a postal form that is sent to respondents around August of the collection year. Electronic pdf versions of the questionnaire are available to respondents on request. Measurement errors The ICT Supply Survey results are subject to measurement errors. Customers need to consider these when analysing the results from the survey. Non-sampling errors Measurement errors include mistakes by respondents when completing the questionnaire, variation in respondents' interpretation of the questions asked, and errors made during data processing. In addition, the survey applies imputation methodologies to cope with non-respondents and item non-response (see Imputation methodology section below for more detail). These methods are not without error. We adopt procedures to minimise these types of errors, but they may still occur and are not quantifiable. Given the nature of the data collected, there are limitations on the level of accuracy that can be expected from the ICT Supply Survey. Many respondents do not keep a separate account of their breakdown of specific ICT sales, or their sales may not be able to be split out, e.g. if a support service is offered alongside an annual subscription to a hosting service. Sampling errors The estimates in this release are based on a sample of businesses. Somewhat different figures might have been obtained if a complete census of the entire business population had been taken using the same questionnaire and processing methods. Because the estimates are based on a sample of businesses, all estimates have a sampling error associated with them. The variability of a survey estimate, due to the random nature of the sample selection process, is measured by its sampling error. Sampling errors vary from estimate to estimate, and with population breakdown and population size. Imputation methodology This section outlines the imputation methodology used in the ICT Supply Survey. Unit non-response Unit (or complete) non-response occurs where units in the population do not return the questionnaire, or an invalid questionnaire is received. For larger units who don’t respond we use alternative data sources where possible to estimate their ICT sales. For all other non-responding units, we use a weight adjustment method to rate up the responding firms to compensate for the non-responding firms within the same estimation cell. Item non-response Item (or partial) non-response is where units return the questionnaire but fail to provide data for selected aggregates. The item non-response imputation method then uses the mean proportion of all responding linked units (excluding outliers) within imputation cell, and we apply these proportions to the sourced total. Confidentiality Stats NZ has a legal obligation to protect survey respondents' privacy and industry-sensitive information. Confidentiality rules are applied to all data released – to protect the information supplied by an individual company. Once all confidential financial items are identified, suppression of further items is done to complete the protection of the confidential value. Liability While all care and diligence has been used in processing, analysing, and extracting data and information in this publication, Statistics NZ gives no warranty it is error-free and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the use directly, or indirectly, of the information in this publication. en-NZ