September 24, 2011 – The 2011 edition of the annual Cisco Connected World Technology Report, released this week, focusses on the young -- and highlights how the Internet has become central to their lives -- and is perceived to be almost as essential as food clothing and shelter.
More than half of the study’s respondents from across 14 countries including India, said they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives” – in some cases more integral than cars, dating, and partying.
Key findings ( global and Indian):
Air, Water, Internet: About one of every three college students and employeessurveyedglobally (33%) believes the Internet is as important as air, water, food and shelter. About half (49% of college students and 47% of employees) believe it is “pretty close” to that level of importance. Combined, four of every five college students and young employees believe the Internet is vitally important and part of their daily life’s sustenance.
In India, 95% of college students and young employees surveyed admitted to the Internet being as important in their lives as water, food, air and shelter.
Life’s Daily Sustenance: More than half of the respondents (55% of college students and 62% of employees) said they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an “integral part of their lives.”
The New Way to Get Around: If forced to make a choice between one or the other, the majority of college students globally – about two of three (64%) – would choose an Internet connections instead of a car
The New Social Life: Internet over Love and Friendship?
First Love: Two of five college students surveyed globally (40%) said the Internet is more important to them than dating, going out with friends, or listening to music.
Social Life 2.0: Whereas previous generations preferred socializing in person, the next generation is indicating a shift toward online interaction. More than one in four college students globally (27%) said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music, or hanging out with friends. Within certain countries, including India, updating Facebook was ranked as the highest priority, even more than hanging out with friends.
The Use of Mobile Devices for Accessing Information…and the End of TV and Newspapers?
Importance of Mobile Devices: Two-thirds of students and more than half of employees (58%) cite a mobile device (laptop, smartphone, tablet) as “the most important technology in their lives.”
For young employees, India came second globally when it comes to importance of mobile device usage (71%), behind the UK (74%), but ahead of Australia (66%), China (62%), and the US (62%).
Continued Rise of Smartphones: Smartphones are poised to surpass desktops as the most prevalent tool from a global perspective, as 19% of college students consider smartphones as their “most important” device used on a daily basis, compared to 20% for desktops – an indication of the growing trend of smartphone prominence and expected rise in usage by the next generation of college graduates upon entering the workforce. This finding fans the debate over the necessity of offices compared to the ability to connect to the Internet and work anywhere, such as at home or in public settings. In the 2010 edition of the study, three of five employees globally (60%) said offices are unnecessary for being productive.
In India, 68% of young employees surveyed prefer using smartphones and consider it as their “most important” device.
TV’s Decline: Both surveys indicate that the TV’s prominence is decreasing among college students and young employees in favor of mobile devices like laptops and smartphones. Globally, less than one in 10 college students (6%) and employees (8%) said the TV is the most important technology device in their daily lives.
Paper Route’s Dead End? Only one of 25 college students and employees (4%) surveyedglobally said the newspaper is their most important tool for accessing information.
Saving Trees: Two of five students (21%) have not bought a physical book (not textbooksrequired for class) in a bookstore in more than two years – or never at all.
Influence of Social Media – and Distractions in Daily Life Facebook Interaction: About nine of 10 (91%) college students and employees (88%) globallyc said they have a Facebook account – of those, 89 percent of college students and 73% of employees check their Facebook page at least once a day. One-third (33%) said they check at least five times a day.
Of all the countries surveyed in the studies India ranked highest in the frequency of Facebook interaction, with 92% of students and 98% of employees checking it daily
Online Interruption or Disruption? College students reported constant online interruptions while doing projects or homework from IM, social media updates and phone calls. In a given hour, more than four out of five (84%) college students said they are interrupted at least once. About one in five students (19%) said they are interrupted six times or more – an average of at least once every 10 minutes. One of 10 (12%) said they lose count how many times they are interrupted while they are trying to focus on a project.
Work Is Life: Seven of 10 employees “friended” their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook, indicating the dissolution of boundaries separating work and private life. Culturally, the United States featured lower percentages of employees friending managers and co-workers – only about one in four (23%) – although two of five friended their co-workers (40%).
In India, 85% of employees surveyed confirmed adding their colleagues and managers on Facebook.
The Work Grapevine: Of employees who use Twitter, more than two of every three (68%) follow the Twitter activity of either their manager or colleagues; 42% follow both, while one-third (32%) prefer to keep their personal lives private.
The second annual Cisco Connected World Technology Report examines the relationshibetween human behavior, the Internet, and networking’s pervasiveness. The study was commissioned by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, a third-party market research firm based in the United States.The global study focuses on two surveys – one centering on college students, the other on a group of young professionals in their 20s. Each survey included 100 respondents from each of the 14 countries, resulting in a survey pool of 2,800 people. The 14 countries include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Russia, India, China, Japan, and Australia.
More on the 2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report: www.cisco.com/go/connectedreport
See for a few days, a video summry of the report in our Tech Video spot on the home page of www.indiatechonline.com