The adoption of artificial intelligence technologies and other ICT advancements is steadily increasing among enterprises in Cyprus, with large companies leading the way. These insights were highlighted in the 2024 survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and e-commerce usage, published by the Statistical Service of Cyprus.

In 2024, 7.9% of all enterprises in Cyprus used AI technologies, up from 4.7% in 2023. Among large enterprises, the adoption rate reached 34.9%, compared to 14.3% for medium-sized enterprises and 6.3% for small enterprises. AI systems employ technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision to gather data and predict or recommend actions.

The steady growth in AI adoption reflects the increasing reliance on advanced tools for operational and decision-making efficiency. Large enterprises have consistently demonstrated higher rates of adoption, rising from 13% in 2021 to 15.5% in 2023 and 34.9% in 2024.

The survey revealed that 84.1% of enterprises with 10 or more employees provided portable devices enabling mobile internet access. A majority also offered remote access to essential systems, such as email (88.1%), documents (71.7%), and business applications (66.3%).

Additionally, 59.1% of enterprises conducted remote meetings in 2024 using platforms like Skype, Zoom, or MS Teams, indicating a continued reliance on virtual collaboration.

E-commerce also played a significant role in 2023, with 23.5% of enterprises receiving orders for goods or services through computer networks. Orders were mainly processed via websites or apps (22.7%) and less frequently through EDI-type messages (2.5%).

Internet advertising has surged, with 49.4% of enterprises paying to advertise online in 2024, nearly doubling the figure from 2016. Targeted advertisements based on geolocation (43.5%) and user search behavior (38.4%) were among the most popular strategies.

In 2024, 27.5% of enterprises employed ICT specialists, with large enterprises leading at 85.8%, medium-sized enterprises at 49.6%, and small businesses at 22.8%. However, only 15.3% of enterprises provided ICT training to specialists, while 27% extended training to other employees.

Efforts to recruit ICT specialists proved challenging, as 12.2% of enterprises with 10 or more employees attempted to fill ICT positions in 2023, and more than half faced difficulties in doing so.

ICT security remains a priority for enterprises, with strong passwords (95%), data backups to separate locations or cloud services (90%), and network access controls (73.9%) being the most common measures. VPNs (67.3%) and monitoring systems for suspicious activity (56%) were also widely adopted to protect enterprise data and systems.