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DENMARK
is the most networked economy in the world, 80 places
above the Philippines that last year ranked 81, slipping
from 69 the year before.
This is
according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2007-2008
Global Information Technology Report (GITR), which has
become the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative
international assessment of the impact of information
and communications technology (ICT) on the development
and competitiveness of nations.
The much
poorer showing of the country is delineated more clearly
by the advance of Vietnam to 73rd place from 82nd
previously.
Not only
that, but last year, the Philippines lagged behind all
its Southeast Asian counterparts such as other Asean
countries Singapore, 5th; Malaysia, 26th; Thailand,
40th, and Indonesia, 76th.
The
report included 127 economies, five more than in 2006.
This is the seventh consecutive year the report is
published by the WEF.
The
Networked Readiness Framework, which is the base of the
index, assesses the presence of an ICT-friendly and
conducive environment by looking at a number of features
of the broad business environment, some regulatory
aspects and the soft and hard infrastructure for ICT.
The
framework also evaluates the level of ICT readiness and
preparation to use ICT of the three main
stakeholders—individuals, the business sector and the
government as well as the actual use of ICT by these
stakeholders.
The
Philippines ranked low in infrastructure environment,
ranking 101st; government readiness, 90th; individual
usage and business readiness, 88th; individual readiness
and readiness component, 87th; and political regulatory
environment, 80th.
In other
indicators, the
Philippines
ranked near the middle of the index such as usage
component, where it was ranked 78th; environment
component, 77th; government usage, 75th; business usage,
60th; and market environment, 56th.
After
Denmark, some of the most networked economies were
Sweden
2nd, and Switzerland, 3rd; United States, 4th;
Singapore, 5th; Finland, 6th; the Netherlands, 7th;
Iceland, 8th; Korea, 9th, and Norway, 10th. The WEF said
in a statement that
Korea
and, to a lesser extent, the US, posted the most notable
improvements.
Under
the theme Fostering Innovation through Networked
Readiness, this year’s report places a particular focus
on the role of networked readiness in spurring
innovation.
The
Report is produced by the World Economic Forum in
cooperation with Insead, the leading international
business school, and is sponsored this year by Cisco
Systems. |
