The Economist Intelligence Unit developed the criteria for the e-readiness rankings in concert with IBM’s Institute for Business Value. "Economic development is largely predicated on the effective and innovative use of technology," said Peter Korsten, director, IBM Institute for Business Value.
This year, Scandinavia dominates the rankings, with Denmark in first place and Sweden in third. Norway came fourth and Finland fifth. Scandinavia has emerged as the region to beat in the annual rankings, overtaking earlier adopters including the US, Australia and Canada. The UK came second. (In the 2001 rankings, the top four countries were, in order, the US, Australia, the UK and Canada.) What sets Scandinavia apart is the extent to which the internet has reshaped business transactions, the eagerness with which citizens have incorporated internet technology into their daily routines, and the extent to which Scandinavian governments have driven development.
Asian contenders have also stepped forward. Singapore (seventh) has made the greatest advance in this year’s ranking, up five places over last year. Like its Asian neighbours, Hong Kong, (ninth) and South Korea (fourteenth), Singapore is a world leader in broadband roll-out and benefits from strong government-industry co-operation.
Broadband has an impact. To reflect its role as an e-business driver, the Unit has modified its scoring methodology to include broadband penetration, replacing an indicator on fixed-line rental rates. For most countries - particularly the top-ranked ones - the change has had a dampening effect on overall scores, because broadband adoption is still very low. With the exception of Spain (twenty-first) and Israel (twenty-second), which have excelled on other criteria such as IT investment, the scores for all top 25 countries have slipped, largely due to this change in methodology.
Co-ordination and competition pay off. Governments that co-ordinate with industry associations, with the ICT service and manufacturing sectors, with local governments, and with other national governments, show that learning from each other and progressing toward common goals is the fastest and cheapest way to e-readiness. The European Union is showing what co-ordination can accomplish.
This year’s EU accession countries - Estonia (twenty-sixth), the Czech Republic (twenty-seventh), Hungary (thirtieth), Slovenia (thirty-first), Latvia (thirty-fourth), Poland (thirty-sixth), Lithuania (thirty-eigth) and Slovakia (thirty-ninth) (as well as Cyrus and Malta, not included in the ranking) - already have decent infrastructure and e-business environments. In Estonia, the majority of internet users are broadband subscribers, and all public schools have broadband access. These countries will immediately benefit from the EU’s co-ordinated approach to development.
Countries that have all internet enablers working in tandem (complete technology infrastructure, and favourable policy, business and social environments) are the most e-ready. But even where some of these pieces are missing, proactive governments and smart businesses can use the internet to improve services and create new opportunities. Examples include e-government advances in Mexico (thirty-ninth tie) and Romania (fiftieth), and the creation of software and outsourcing niches in India (forty-sixth), South Africa (thirty-second) and Bulgaria (forty-second).
Quelle: DMeurope, 20.04.2004
