A study headed Making the internet Thrive in Greece: Social & Economic Barriers was presented by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (FEIR/IOBE) and Google Hellas, on January 29, in Athens.

The study examined the limited growth of e-commerce, e-government and other services by and for individuals, businesses and the public sector in Greece today.

The IOBE, which conducted the research, stressed that the Internet can make a significant contribution towards restoring the country’s recession-battered economy, but key findings showed that although half of Greeks use the Internet and 93% of businesses have internet access, only 4% make online orders. 

Furthermore, only 13% of Greek citizens benefit from e-government services, a figure lagging far behind the European average of 32%.

The slower than anticipated growth of Internet use in Greece is mainly due to low commercial trust in the medium for security in transactions, social background, an often inferior quality of domestic e-service, and concerns over intellectual property and privacy issues.