A new digital divide is opening up between countries that make effective use of information and communications technology, and those that do not, argue the authors of a new report published Wednesday by Insead and the World Economic Forum.
“Despite efforts over the past decade to develop ICT infrastructure in developing economies, a new digital divide in terms of ICT impacts persists,” say the authors of the 11th annual Global Information Technology Report: Living in a Hyperconnected World, published by the Forum.
The report compares the availability and use of technology in 142 countries and focuses this year on what the authors describe as “the transformational impacts of ICT on the economy and society”.
Sweden and then Singapore top the Networked Readiness Index ranking in the report which says that four Nordic countries are the most successful in leveraging ICT in their competitiveness strategies.
Among other countries in the top 10, the US ranks number eight and the UK number 10. However, Professor Soumitra Dutta, co-author of the report, said the US ranking in particular reflected a cautionary note. He warned that businesses in the US are increasingly concerned about the economic effectiveness of government, and that “weaknesses in the political and regulatory environment are beginning to hinder its overall performance”.
The report’s main conclusion, however, is that developing countries, including the Bric nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China, which ranks number 51), lag far behind the more advanced economies of northern Europe and North America.
Despite improvements in many drivers of competitiveness, the Brics still face important challenges to more fully adopt and leverage ICT. An insufficient skills base and institutional weaknesses, especially in the business environment, present a number of shortcomings that stifle entrepreneurship and innovation. Nevertheless, China has pulled ahead of India (69th) in the rankings in recent years and is outperforming many countries in southern Europe and most in Latin America including Brazil (65th).
The bottom of the list is dominated by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting what the report describes as “significant lags in connectivity due to insufficient development of ICT infrastructure, which remains too costly, and … poor skill levels that do not allow for an efficient use of the available technology”.
But even in those countries where ICT infrastructure has been improved, ICT-driven impacts on competitiveness and wellbeing trail behind, resulting in a new digital divide, the report suggests.
“Although many would consider that the phrase ‘digital divide’ is passé, GITR data show that it remains a stubborn reality; in spite of the spectacular global spread of mobile telephony, poor countries, especially in Africa, still suffer from lack of infrastructure and connectivity,” said Bruno Lanin, executive director of Insead’s eLab.
By Paul Taylor in New York
5 April 2012
@ Financial Times