How's Life in the Digital Age?

How’s life in the digital age in Ireland?

Ireland shows average performance both in exposure to the risks of the digital transformation as well as in the extent to which it reaps the benefits. While Internet access is above the OECD average, Internet use is slightly below, as are adult digital skills. At the same time, digital security risks are low, and very few people in Ireland report having been exposed to disinformation. Irish 15-year-olds report incidents of cyberbullying at comparatively high rates and are more likely to use the Internet for extreme use, but students have less access to digital resources than in most OECD countries, and only 4.4% of people report using online education over the past 3 months – well below the OECD average. In Ireland, information industries contribute significantly to employment with a 4% of total employment, higher than the OECD average, but the share of computer-based jobs is also associated with higher rates of job stress and worries about work outside of work hours than in other OECD countries, although also benefit a fair amount from lower extended job strain.

Figure 4.15. The digital well-being wheel in Ireland

Note: This wheel depicts Ireland’s relative performance in terms of key opportunities and risks in the context of the digital transformation. The centre of the wheel corresponds to the lowest outcome observed across all OECD countries, while the outer circle corresponds to the highest outcome. For opportunities (in dark blue) longer bars indicate better outcomes, whereas for risks (in yellow), longer bars indicate worse outcomes. If data are missing for any given indicator, the relevant segment of the circle is shaded in white.

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