Mobility highlighted in global IT report

Canada lands in the top 10 of networked countries for the first time since 2005-'06

*This is an expanded version of a summary originally published in the September 2009 issue of CAmagazine.

Denmark and Sweden top the charts as the most networked economies in the world for the third consecutive year, according to the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009. The United States comes in third, up one position from last year. Singapore, Switzerland and the other Nordic countries, together with the Netherlands and Canada, complete the top 10.

The report, which was sponsored by Cisco and produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with the international business school INSEAD, was released for the eighth consecutive time this year. With record coverage of 134 economies worldwide, its aim was to provide a comprehensive international assessment of the impact of information and communication technologies on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. “Recent economic history has shown that as developed countries approach the technological frontier, ICT is crucial for them to continue innovating in their processes and products and to maintain their competitive advantage,” it says. “Equally importantly, ICT has proven instrumental for enabling developing and middle-income economies to leapfrog to higher stages of development and fostering economic and social transformation. All over the world, ICT has empowered individuals with unprecedented access to information and knowledge, with important consequences in terms of providing education and access to markets, of doing business and of social interactions, among others.”

Under the general theme of mobility, the report notes that mobile telephony has boomed in developing countries, where it compensates for an often undeveloped and flawed fixed telephony structure and offers “a promising tool to lift more and more people out of poverty and improve market efficiency.” This, it says, is “good news in view of reducing the digital and economic divide existing between high- and low-income countries.”

Meanwhile, it says Canada has moved up three spots from last year to re-enter the top 10 for the first time since 2005-2006. Its “networked readiness” is boosted by an excellent ICT infrastructure (4th), a conducive market environment (15th) and widespread ICT usage (11th).

In addition to a networked readiness index, the report provides insight into best practices and policies, detailed profiles for each of the economies featured in the report and data tables.

For more on the report, click here. pls imbed: http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Information%20Technology%20Report/index.htm