Bermuda is becoming more technology savvy with more homes owning a computer and smartphone and more businesses having their own websites than ever before, according to Government’s latest report on the state of the ICT industry.The 2010 report, which was released by Business Development Minister Patrice Minors yesterday and is in its fourth year, revealed that 93 percent of the Island’s households have a computer, up from 90 percent in 2009, and more than nine in 10 or 94 percent possess a cell phone the same as in the previous two years.The number of companies with websites also rose to 87 percent from 78 percent a year earlier, however those that used .bm addresses were down two percent at 54 percent.The survey, which was commissioned by the Department of E-Commerce and conducted by local independent research firm Mindmaps, was designed as a benchmark to compare ICT progress, spot shortcomings and identify new trends by assessing the adoption and use of ICT in Bermuda on an annual basis.Last year’s survey sampled residents aged 18 and older from 410 households, as well as 200 business professionals to gauge usage within both the residential and corporate sectors. Additional research surveyed 100 students aged 12 to 17.The survey found that 62 percent of households owned a desktop and 78 percent had a laptop, while 52 percent of residents possessed a Wi-Fi or internet ready device such as an Apple (iPod, iPad), and gaming devices like Nintendo (DS, DS and Wii) and PlayStation (PS2, PS3).The vast majority of households had access the internet (89 percent) and 92 percent of residents used the internet via their home, work, cellphone or smartphone device or at an internet cafe, with most households using a high speed connection (89 percent).Residents spent approximately 10.9 hours per week using a computer at home with 72 percent of residents using the internet over half the time they were on their computers at home.The most regularly used computer activities included email, using Government websites, an internet search engine, the internet to look for travel information or word processing software, researching a product or service on the internet before buying it, searching the internet for information on a hobby or interest, using the internet to get news and online banking and bill paying.On the cell phone front residents owned a larger proportion of smartphone devices (76 percent versus 55 percent in 2009), while 23 percent were likely to purchase such a device in the next six months.The most frequently used cell phone and smartphone device activities included text messages, emails, taking pictures, accessing the internet, Blackberry Messenger, downloading ringtones, playing games, social networking and Peer-to-Peer messaging.Overall 41 percent of respondents communicated via text messaging daily. Multiple daily usage was higher than average among younger residents (18 to 24 years 70 percent; 25 to 34 years 54 percent).Consistent with the last benchmarking series between 2007 and 2009, residents believed that in order to compete in a global economy, Bermuda must continue to meet or exceed global technology standards, with 92 percent believing that having a strong knowledge of technology was essential to getting ahead in today’s market. Furthermore 69 percent had a moderate to high level of ICT competence.In terms of corporate usage almost a third of businesses (32 percent) offered an online payment facility, with the vast majority of companies continuing to report that they used technology for business-to-business (92 percent), business to consumer (79 percent), internal systems (78 percent), as well as business to government (77 percent) purposes.Social networking was also prevalent with 87 percent of residents and 97 percent of students reported using social networking websites to communicate with friends, family members or relatives and 31 percent of companies harnessing its powers to communicate with clients and other businesses.School-related computer activities included word processing (95 percent), using an internet search engine (88 percent) presentation software (86 percent) and spreadsheet software (74 percent), while social activities ranged from watching videos online (92 percent) to instant messaging (88 percent).Almost a quarter of respondents reported that they played games, watched videos online, downloaded music and use Voice over Internet Protocol daily.Some of the data from last year’s independent survey was provided to the Economist Magazine’s Economist Intelligence Unit for their 2010 “Digital Economy Rankings” survey, where Bermuda was ranked one of the top 22 e-ready countries in the world, and Bermuda ranked in the top 15 in four disciplines, including connectivity, business environment, legal environment, and government policy and vision.The public can download copies of the 2010 the “State of ICT in Bermuda 2010” from www.gov.bm