Sri Lanka scored very high in the affordability measure, ranked at number 5 for mobile tariffs based on purchasing power parity dollars and number 2 for fixed broadband though ranked low in internet and telephony completion (129).
Sri Lanka did less well on the political and regulatory sub-index bogged down by legal delays in contract enforcement, piracy and judicial independence.
Sri Lanka also scored moderately well on skills (38), government and business usage (57), but lagged behind other countries on individual usage (110).
Ranking on top was Finland, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, United States and Taiwan (China).
The report Growth and Jobs in a Hyperconnected World suggests that national policies in some developing economies stopping ICT investments from translating into tangible benefits in terms of competitiveness, development and employment.
Analysts say Sri Lanka’s telecoms took off from the mid 1990 as a state monopoly was broken and people, both Sri Lankan citizens and foreign entities were allowed to invest in telecoms through privatization and more liberal licensing giving freedom.
In countries where state control still remains, are using ICTs less effectively according to data in the report.
‘The BRICS’ economies, and notably China (58th, down seven), continue to lag behind in the rankings’, the WEF said.
‘The sustained rapid economic growth of past years in some of these countries may be in jeopardy unless the right investments are made in ICT, skills and innovation’.
The ranking is compiled by the WEF and INSEAD a business school.
“This analysis shows how matching investments in ICT with investment in skills and innovation can help economies cross a ‘magic threshold’, beyond which return on investment increases significantly,” said Executive Director, e-Lab, INSEAD and co-editor Bruno Lanvin, of the report.
“Individual countries need to identify what separates them from reaching that threshold if they have not reached it yet in order to fulfill long-term growth, competitiveness and innovation targets”.
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Quelle/Source: The Nation, 13.04.2013
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