Poles’ Participation in Information-Based Development

Poles like the Internet and computers. In 2007, 54% of Polish households had a desktop computer. According to the latest data, in 2002-2007 the number of owned computers and the proliferation of Internet access saw the most dynamic growth. While in 2002 only approximately 10% of Poles surfed the net, in just a few years both the computer and the Internet became commonplace. Portable computers, because of their convenience and increasingly affordable prices, were available to 6% of all computer owners in 2007. The main factor that determines the ownership of a computer and availability of Internet access is the financial situation of households. The better the financial situation, the more likely it is for a household to have technological novelties. Every fifth Pole has a DVD player. An increasing number of Poles have new generation TV sets, which used to be hardly affordable quite recently: in 2007, Poles bought over 1.5 million plasma and LCD TV sets.

The diagram below shows the percentage of respondents who have the following items in their households:

Source: Own diagram based on Korzystanie z Internetu i komputerów, CBOS, April 2007