Foreword
Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan Announces 2009 International Living Environment Satisfaction and Digital Divide Survey Results
The Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) of the Executive Yuan held a press conference on December 16 to announce two survey results, covering the “International Living Environment Satisfaction Survey” and the “Individual/Household Digital Divide Survey”. Minister Chu Chin-peng of the RDEC said during the press conference that approximately 75.1% of foreign survey respondents were satisfied with the level of tolerance and acceptance they had experienced in Taiwan’s living, work and cultural environments, with the development of an internationalized environment. In addition, as many as 88.8% of respondents perceived Taiwanese people as being friendly.
The press conference also announced the results from a digital divide survey, which indicated that 67.6% of people above the age of 12 in Taiwan have accessed the Internet before. According to the estimates based on the survey, Taiwan’s Internet population is close to 14 million. Other results show that participating in online social networking has become a common Internet activity.
The “International Living Environment Satisfaction Survey” included four main categories--“deepening immigration counseling assistance”, “broadening and attracting economic migrants”, “building a society of diverse cultures” and “indicators for an internationalized living environment”. Respondents gave a high satisfaction rating of 80.9% to Taiwan’s overall living and cultural environment, with “everyday shopping conveniences” and “convenience in connecting with one’s home country” respectively receiving the highest 82.6% and 87.4% satisfaction ratings.
Respondents’ satisfaction level for Taiwan’s work environment is 70.7%, and the main reason for choosing to work here is “the desire to get to know Taiwan’s culture” (50.0%). Satisfaction levels were 62.1% for wages in Taiwan, and 78.5% and 87.1%, respectively, for the friendliness of employers and co-workers. In addition, 74.8% of respondents support the new “Academic and Business Travel Card,” “Employment Pass,” and “Plum Blossom Permanent Residency Card” launched this year, and believe that these new programs will enhance international exchanges, while 74.4% and 72.1%, respectively, also believe that the “Employment Pass” and “Plum Blossom Permanent Residency Card” will help to attract foreign professionals to Taiwan.
The overall satisfaction level with Taiwan’s cultural tolerance is 65.2%. However, 41.4% of respondents think that Taiwanese people are not familiar with the cultures of their home countries, and 44.2% consider the English ability of Taiwanese people to be average, although 72.1% believe that the Taiwanese are accepting, tolerant and open to learning about different cultures.
When it comes to the topic of cultural integration in Taiwan’s living environment, most respondents use English (50.4%) and Mandarin (30.9%) as their main languages of communication in their daily lives and at work. The greatest percentage of respondents (37.0%) described the frequency of their social meetings with Taiwanese friends as “occasional”, followed by 21.8% who frequently joined such gatherings. A total of 43.8% said that they have an “average” knowledge of Taiwan’s culture, while 40.7% have a “good” knowledge.
The facets covered under the indicators for an internationalized living environment were “government efficiency”, “bilingual signage”, “government services to foreigners”, “Taiwanese people’s acceptance of foreigners” and “a sense of belonging to society”. For “government efficiency”, respondents gave the highest ratings to Customs and entry/exit services at Taiwan’s airports (65.5%), bilingual signage, hospitals and clinics (46.3%) and tourist and recreational spots (45.3%).
For “government services to foreigners”, with 74.8% of respondents answering “do not know” or “have no comment” regarding the “Information For Foreigners Website and International Community Service Hotline (0800-024-111), showing that there is still room for improvement in these areas. Finally, when it comes to “Taiwanese people’s acceptance of foreigners” and a “sense of belonging to society”, 76.7% of people taking the survey said that they are able to adapt to Taiwan’s living environment and 88.8% think that Taiwanese people are very friendly.
The above survey was conducted by face-to-face interviews with white-collar foreign workers living in Taiwan using proportionate stratified sampling between August 1 and September 15, 2009. A total of 1,076 effective samples were collected, based on a 95% confidence level with a sampling error of 3%. A sample representativeness check was conducted and the survey results were then weighted by respondents’ gender, age, nationality, and area of residence.
Speaking about the digital divide survey, Minister Chu said that a key administrative goal of the Executive Yuan was to narrow Taiwan’s digital divide and promote social welfare. Since 2001, the RDEC has conducted digital divide surveys to understand changes in Taiwan’s digital divide and provide references for the government as it draws up policies and performance assessment guidelines related to this area. This year, the significant increase in middle-aged and senior-citizen Internet users indicates that relevant plans implemented by various cabinet agencies to narrow the digital divide have achieved initial results. These plans have included Internet training programs for the general public, an RDEC plan to help communities promote information assistants, and a Council for Economic Planning and Development plan aimed for narrowing the female digital divide.
This year, the RDEC also set up 100 wireless Internet access spots in Yilan, Nantou and Yunlin counties, and selected 12 townships, schools and libraries under these three county governments to launch a free, pilot laptop-loan service that allows ordinary citizens to borrow laptop computers for home Internet access. Favorable public response has already exceeded expectations for this new initiative, which will be expanded next year.
Another important finding in this year’s survey is that, although 78 out of every 100 households have access to the Internet, the Internet connection rate for Taiwanese households remains stagnant by comparison to 2008. The survey also reveals that households without Internet connections generally fall under a lower income bracket. Among households with Internet connections, one in every three households considers connection fees a heavy financial burden, showing that these fees are one of the barriers preventing more families from upgrading their information environment. In addition, as many as 75% of Internet users have not used their mobile phones for Internet access, even though they believe that that is a future trend. Once again, one of the reasons preventing many respondents (31.4%) from using this service is its high costs.
From survey results, it can be seen that Internet connection fees need to be reduced to NT$500 per household in order to reduce the financial burden on citizens and help attain the goal of providing universal Internet access.
Other survey discoveries include the fact that 59.3% of Internet users have made online purchases before, a rise of 10 percentage points compared to 2008 in what is a very significant increase. However, due to economic difficulties, the value of the average individual’s online purchases dropped from NT$13,565 in 2008 to NT$9,816 in 2009.
Instant messaging and blogging also remain a craze among the younger generation, with micro-blogging becoming a new, growing segment this year. Among respondents, 81.7% of those in the 21-30 age group have MSN Instant Messenger accounts, 58% are members of Facebook, 49.5% have their own blogs, 13.0% participate in Plurk and 4.6% have Twitter accounts. These statistics represent this generation’s enthusiastic embrace of online social networking.
Internet users primarily spend time on Internet communities because they want to connect with friends quickly and economically (38.0%) or want to exchange information (17.2％). This naturally raises the potential to become addicted to the Internet, with seven out of every 100 Internet users confessing that they feel restless and anxious if they do not access the Internet for more than a day.
The survey also found that 40% of Internet users participating in online communities forwarded information about H1N1, disaster prevention and other important government details to their online friends via MSN Instant Messenger, emails and other community channels, either frequently or occasionally. The incredible information dissemination power of the Internet can be seen from the fact that each Internet user has an average of 60 contacts on their online friends list, with more than 80% of these online friends being known acquaintances. Hence, the Internet is expected to become another excellent public information dissemination tool.
The “2009 Individual/Household Digital Divide Survey” was conducted via evening phone interviews from July 13 to August 21, 2009. A total of 16,133 persons over the age of 12 in Taiwan were interviewed. Based on a 95% confidence level with a sampling error of 0.8%, the survey used residential telephone numbers in the Taiwan area as the population, randomly sampling of the last two digits of phone numbers. The results were then weighted according to the gender, age, and county/city of residence for residents above the age of 12 in Taiwan.
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