RAMALLAH, May 17, 2009 (WAFA)- The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) enumerated the main features of the knowledge-based economy in the Palestinian Territory.

In a press release issued on the occasion of the Information Society Day, the PCBS cited the results of the business Information and Communication Technology (ICT) survey, 2007, saying that 21.3% of the total enterprises in the Palestinian Territory used computers in 2007. The percentage of enterprises using the Internet reached 12.7%.

The percentage of enterprises that have electronic commercial transactions via the Internet or networks was 2.1%. The survey results also showed that 62.4% of the total expenditures on ICT were for both fixed and mobile communications, followed by expenditure on computers of 9.9%.

It is estimated that the number of workers in economic enterprises who were specialists in the field of information and communication was 10,000 employees, representing 3.5% of the total employed in economic enterprises. The number of students in tertiary specialized in these areas was five thousand students, representing 3.0% of the total students in the year 2008.

The total value-added of this sector in 2007 was three times the value of 2000, reaching $330 million in 2007, with annual average growth rate of 30%. With regard to activities related to the computer, the total value-added was five times the value of 2000, to reach $16 million in the year 2007, with annual average growth rate of 76%.

Statistics showed that the number of researchers in research and development in the West Bank was 981 in 2007, representing 280 researchers in Full-Time Equivalent (defined as 90.0% of the total number of working hours in the year on research and development), of which 187 were males and 93 were females.

Studying the trend rates of prevalence of information technology in the Palestinian society, ICT is expected to double during the next five years.  Infrastructure and access to information technology developed significantly from 2000 to 2006. The percentage of households owning a computer was 33.0% in 2006, three times the figure in 2000. Availability of Internet service in the house increased ten times (15.9%) in 2006 compared with 2000.  Households owning a mobile phone in the year 2006 increased two times (81.0%) in 2007 compared with the year 2000.