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South Africa's digital economy a top global mover in Networked Readiness Index

2 August 2016

South Africa's digital economy has jumped to 65th out of 139 countries surveyed in the Networked Readiness Index, an gain in 10 places from 2015. This makes South Africa one of 10 most-improved countries, alongside Italy and Slovakia.

The index, compiled by the Global Technology Report and published by the World Economic Forum, is a key indicator of how countries are doing in the digital world. It measures how well a country uses information and communications technologies to boost the health of its economy.

Global Information Technology..2016 @wef https://t.co/nYdLzi0QAB 7 high-achieving at Networked Readiness Index (NRI) pic.twitter.com/ku9CqrQ6cn

— WSlightly (@WSlightly) July 25, 2016

The index analyses environment, readiness, use and impact data. It also takes social influences on the creation of a digital economy into account.

The global top 10 is led by Singapore, Finland and Sweden. The US is fifth, the UK eighth and Japan tenth.

South Africa jumps an impressive 10 places, to 65 in the world, in the WEF's Networked Readiness Index 2016 pic.twitter.com/8efPJIOT5t

— Cherryflava (@Cherryflava) July 15, 2016

South Africa is not the only African country to improve in the last year. Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire also made significant jumps in the rankings.

South Africa’s leap in the rankings was driven by the private sector, and by upgrades to digital infrastructure and affordability, according to the report.

"South Africa’s digital transformation is mostly business driven, as the country notably performs best in business usage (32nd), followed by individual usage (77th), followed by government usage (105th),” says networking firm Cisco, a sponsor of the report.

"Individuals and businesses, says the index, are benefitting from a drop in mobile and broadband tariffs that is "reducing barriers to adoption also in terms of affordability."

However, the report stresses that more sustained infrastructure development, as well as more public and private cooperation, are needed to take advantage of South Africa’s momentum in the digital economy. "In order for the impact to start materialising, significantly more buy-in from government will be needed across all areas of vision, promotion and efficient use."

Southafrica.info reporter

Source: World Economic Forum

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