The Global Information Technology Report

The last decade has seen information and communication technologies (ICT) dramatically transforming the world, enabling innovation and productivity increases, connecting people and communities, and improving standards of living and opportunities across the globe.

While changing the way individuals live, interact, and work, ICT has also proven to be a key precondition for enhanced competitiveness and economic and societal modernization, as well as an important instrument for bridging economic and social divides and reducing poverty.

The GITR series has been published by the World Economic Forum in partnership with INSEAD since 2001, accompanying and monitoring ICT advances for more than a decade as well as raising awareness of the importance of ICT diffusion and usage for long-term competitiveness and societal well being. Through the lens of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the driving factors of networked readiness and ICT leveraging have been identified, highlighting the joint responsibility of all social actors, namely individuals, businesses, and governments, in this respect. The series has become over time one of the most respected studies of its kind.

It has been extensively used by policymakers and relevant stakeholders as a unique tool to identify strengths on which to build and weaknesses that need to be addressed in national strategies for enhanced networked readiness. The results of this year’s report, the eleventh of its kind, will be released on April 4^th, 2012 at 10am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time).

GITR 2011 results in review

For the 2010 - 2011 edition of the GITR, Sweden topped the rankings for the second time in a row, with an outstanding performance across the board. Although some Nordic countries lost some ground with respect to the year before, the others were still amongst the most successful countries in the world at fully integrating new technologies in their competitiveness strategies and using them as a crucial lever for long-term growth. Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland ranked among the top 20, at 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 16th, respectively.

Singapore was stable at 2nd, leading Asia and the world in networked readiness, followed by Finland(up three places from the previous year), Switzerland, and the United States.

Europe continued to display remarkable levels of ICT readiness, with 11 regional economies featuring among the top 20 of the world’s best performers. Besides the Nordics and Switzerland, the Netherlands (11th), Germany (13th), Luxembourg (14th), the United Kingdom (15th), and France (20th) ranked among the most networked economies worldwide.

Asia was home to some of the best performers in the world in the NRI rankings and to the countries that have proven the most dynamic over time. In particular,six economies besides Singapore featured amongst the top 20, namely Taiwan (6th), Korea (10th), Hong Kong (12th), Australia (17th), New Zealand (18th), and Japan (19th). With regard to the largest Asian emerging markets, China consolidated its position at 36th after years of impressive progression in the rankings, while India lost some ground and dropped down five places to 48th.

Although a number of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region posted notable improvements or consolidated their achievements in networked readiness, last year the region as a whole continued to trail behind international best practices in leveraging ICT advances.

No Latin American or Caribbean economy appeared in the top 20 and only a handful featured in the top 50: Barbados (38th), Chile (39th), Puerto Rico (43rd), Uruguay (45th), and Costa Rica (46th). While Brazil climbed five places to 56th, Mexico was stable at 78th, and Argentina dropped five places to 96th.

The assessment of sub-Saharan Africa’s networked readiness was disappointing, with the majority of the region lagging in the bottom half of the NRI rankings, bar Mauritius (45th) and South Africa (61st). Tunisia consolidated its leadership in North Africa at 35th place, while all other countries in the region, with the exception of Morocco (83rd, 5 places up), followed a downward trend. The biggest decline was that of Libya, which dropped a staggering 23 places to 126th. Egypt (75th) and Algeria (117th) lost 4 places each, although both improved in score. On a more positive note, the Middle East continued to feature prominently in the rankings, with four countries in the top 30, namely Israel (22nd), the United Arab Emirates (24th), Qatar (25th), and Bahrain (30th).