The World Unites for The Lifestyle Revolution

ICL reports on international attitudes to technology

Today ICL, the IT systems and services company, launched an international research report entitled The Lifestyle Revolution, revealing attitudes to and uptake of technology. The findings demonstrate how deeply technology has become entrenched in our everyday lives, affecting everything from voting, banking and shopping to work habits, tackling football hooligans, and buying lottery tickets.

The report, commissioned by ICL and conducted by MORI, was compiled between May and August 1998. It collates responses from 3,500 people across Britain, the US, Sweden, France and Germany, to build a comprehensive picture of attitudes towards technology and its impact on society.

Some of the findings include:

• As many as a third of respondents currently use the Internet. In Britain, use has more than doubled over the past two years.
• Europeans favour an independent body to regulate the Internet. US respondents do not.
• Internetphobia is rife in France where only 17% of people use the Internet, the main reason being that they feel it's irrelevant to them.
• Britain, America and Sweden are extremely interested in voting via PC or television. Germany and France would be happier banking this way.
• Britain is the only country where a majority feel safe purchasing over the Internet. Germany has the highest security concerns.
• The James Bond spirit sees the British willing to provide retina scans as well as fingerprints and photos as identification methods.
• In general, people are in favour of introducing ID cards. Britain leads the way with 54% of respondents in favour, up from 37% in 1994. Sweden is the most sceptical. Crime control and cuts in benefit fraud are seen as the main advantages.
• Britain is alone in preferring to be served by machines rather than people when using a bank. In all other countries, two thirds prefer the human touch.
• When it comes to banking, strength of brand sees Britain and France most willing to bank with supermarkets, the US with Microsoft, Coca-Cola or Disney and Germany with BMW. Sweden was the most ambivalent, with a slight majority favouring Microsoft.
• Doctors and banks are the only places universally trusted to hold personal information. Less than half of all respondents would trust the government.
• Supermarkets are seen as the service providers who have improved the most. Britain and the US are particularly impressed. Both countries also gave supermarkets the highest rating for customer care.

Although use of technology has become a global phenomenon, the report identifies strong national traits and differences, which reflect each country's likes and dislikes. Attitudes to technology are often starkly different - for example, France is deeply sceptical about many issues, whilst America is relatively isolationist and mistrustful of any regulation or restriction of the Internet. Britain showed itself to be a nation excited by technology and often far more willing to consider new applications than its European counterparts.

Keith Todd, chief executive, ICL said: "It's clear cultural differences affect the way people from different countries want to use technology. People in Britain are far more adventurous than we give them credit for. Increasingly they are showing themselves to be unafraid to try out new technologies, like smart cards and voting and shopping via the TV and Internet, provided they see the benefit in improving their quality of life.

"What we are hearing loud and clear is that people expect more choice, increased flexibility and better service. They want it anytime, anyplace and anywhere, to suit their own particular lifestyle. This message has important ramifications for all banks, retailers and central and local government."

Please call 01753-604 969 for a copy of the full report at a cost of 163250, (free to media).