ANP-based analysis of ICT usage in Central European enterprises

The purpose of this paper is to perform a multi-criteria evaluation of selected European Union member states in Central Europe with regard to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in enterprises in 2017. The analytic network process (ANP) methodology and k-means clustering were used. Basing on data obtained from Eurostat, ICT attributes were selected and the network of criteria was built. The preferences for main criteria were extracted from empirical data for each analyzed country (each decision variant). The obtained priority values reflected strengths of the analyzed regions. The preferences for sub-criteria were determined basing on that the criteria describing the newest fields of ICT development (e-commerce and e-business in general) are considered most important. With regard to that, the multi -criteria analysis showed that Slovenia and Austria were leaders in Central Europe in 2017, and the worst-performing country was Poland, preceded by Hungary. The results of the study can be used to generalize about the level of ICT development of each country. 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.