Nordic and Asian nations connected for growth, says World Economic Forum

Sweden and Singapore are the most competitive countries in the digital economy, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF).Nordic and Asian economies are best at using information and communications technologies (ICT) to boost their growth, the WEF said.Finland is in third place, Switzerland fourth and the United States fifth.The WEF said ICT was “a key enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world”.To read this BBC News report in full, see:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13053999Also see:Sweden sees best impact from IT growth – WEF
Sweden is better positioned to benefit economically from adopting new information technology than any other country, taking the top spot for the second year in a row, according to a report released on Tuesday.The annual report from the World Economic Forum looked at 138 countries for 2010. Nordic nations had a strong showing in the top 10 rankings, accounting for four of the spots.
uk.reuters.com/article/2011/04/12/oukin-uk-economy-technology-idUKTRE73B5SI20110412U.S. Lagging in Using Technology, Study Shows
The United States continues to lag other nations in its use of computing and communications technology, according to an annual study issued Tuesday by the World Economic Forum.For the second consecutive year, the United States finished fifth in the study’s comparison of 138 countries that make up 98.8 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product. Sweden was first, followed by Singapore, Finland and Switzerland.
www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/technology/13compute.htmlThe Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011
The Global Information Technology Report series celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The series has followed and tried to cast light on the evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) over the last decade, as well as raising awareness about the importance of ICT diffusion and leveraging for increased development, growth, and better living conditions. The methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) has mapped out the enabling factors driving networked readiness, which is the capacity of countries to fully benefit from new technologies in their competitiveness strategies and their citizens’ daily lives. The Index has allowed private and public stakeholders to monitor progress for an ever-increasing number of economies all over the globe, as well as to identify competitive strengths and weaknesses in national networked readiness landscapes. In doing so, the NRI and the series have grown into a unique policy tool in the discussion and design of national strategies to increase networked readiness and overall competitiveness.As ICT continues to drive innovation, productivity, and efficiency gains across industries as well as to improve citizens’ daily lives, The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011 takes a forward look on occasion of the 10th anniversary of its publication. Rather than focusing on the major economic, political, and social transformations enabled by ICT over recent years, the Report tries to imagine the new wave of transformations — transformations 2.0. Collecting the insights of practitioners, academics, and industry experts, the Report explores the ways in which ICT will further revolutionize the way social stakeholders work, interact, and conduct their lives, businesses, and transactions. ICT has shown its revolutionary power as a key catalyst for change, modernization, and innovation and one can safely predict this trend will only accelerate going forward. As in past editions, the Report highlights a number of best practices in ICT readiness and usage in order to showcase strategies and policies that have proven particularly successful in some specific country or region, and that could be a source of inspiration for relevant stakeholders around the world.The Report series is the result of a long-standing partnership between the World Economic Forum (the Forum) and INSEAD, aimed at identifying the drivers of national capacity to leverage ICT advances. The Report is composed of four thematic parts. Part 1 relates the findings of the Networked Readiness Index 2010-2011 (NRI) and features selected expert contributions on the general theme of transformations 2.0. Part 2 includes a number of case studies showcasing best practices in networked readiness in Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the European Union. Part 3 comprises detailed profiles for the 138 economies covered in this year’s Report, providing a thorough picture of each economy’s current networked readiness landscape and allowing for international and historical comparisons on specific variables or components of the NRI. Part 4 includes data tables for each of the 71 variables composing the NRI this year, with rankings for the economies covered as well as technical notes and sources for the quantitative variables used.
reports.weforum.org/global-information-technology-report/