SA 37th in global ICT ranking
28 March 2006
South Africa was placed 37th out of 115 countries surveyed in the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) Global Information Technology Report 2005/06, ranking ahead of such countries as China, Greece, Hungary, Italy and India for its overall ICT "readiness".
The report, now in its fifth year, assesses countries' readiness to participate in and benefit from global developments in information and communication technology (ICT).
Variables taken into account include quality of technical infrastructure, government prioritisation and procurement of ICT, and quality of maths and science education as well as of scientific research institutions and business schools.
Countries are also ranked according to affordability of telephone connections and internet access, availability of training opportunities for the labour force, and existence of a well-developed venture capital market.
African leader
Although South africa
dropped three places from the previous year's ranking, the country still leads sub-Saharan Africa. In Africa, only Tunisia, in 36th place, is ahead.
Mauritius (ranked 45) and Botswana (ranked 56) follow South Africa. While Mauritius improved its performance by two positions, Botswana dropped six positions from last year.
The United States regained the top spot it had ceded to Singapore last year.
"The United States has been for many years an ICT powerhouse, and its sustained ability to harness these technologies so effectively for boosting the efficiency of its economy and its many markets provides a standard of measurement for other countries," said Augusto Lopez-Claros, co-editor of the report and director of the WEF's global competitiveness programme.
Many of the top 10 places were filled by northern European countries, with with Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Sweden in third, fourth, fifth and eighth places respectively.
Fast
changing economy
"Information and communication technologies presently represent one of the most important drivers in boosting efficiency and productivity in today's fast changing global economy," Lopez-Claros said.
"There is a strong correlation between ICT spending and productivity", said John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, which sponsored the report. "While ICT usage is a measure of the present, ICT readiness is perhaps a measure of the future.
"Proactive policies and investments by all levels of government - such as encouraging broadband network infrastructures, the education and literacy of citizens and ongoing skills training - are all components of the readiness measurement, and play an important role in building the foundations of a country's productivity."
Lopez-Claros said that ICT would "continue to play a growing role in boosting the efficiency of the increasingly integrated global economy, enabling countries to improve resource allocation and boost growth prospects."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
