This year marks the 13th edition of the Global Information Technology Report, which provides a comprehensive assessment of networked readiness, or how prepared an economy is to apply the benefits of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to promote economic growth and well-being. Using updated methodology that was introduced in 2012, the report ranks the progress of 148 economies in leveraging ICTs to increase productivity, economic growth and the number of quality jobs. The rankings also show how far some countries have gone in bridging the digital divide – not only in terms of developing ICT infrastructure, but also in terms of economic and social impact – and highlight the main strengths and weaknesses countries are facing. This edition also analyses in detail the rewards and risks associated with big data and what public and private organizations must do to benefit from it. The report remains the most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of its kind.

1. The Networked Readiness Index 2014
Benchmarking ICT Uptake in a World of Big Data
23.04.2014

2. What the Networked
Readiness Index
(NRI) aims to
achieve
The World Economic Forum's Networked Readiness Index (NRI)
measures individual nations’ preparedness to use ICT to benefit their
economy and society. The NRI also seeks to understand the impact of
ICT on national competitiveness, and provide decision makers with an
invaluable conceptual framework to benchmark the ICT readiness and
usage of their economies. It is published annually.

3. Elements of the
networked
readiness index
The NRI involves measurement of four components: the environment
for ICT offered by a given country, the country’s readiness to use ICT,
the usage of ICT among key stakeholders (individuals, business and
government), and ICT’s impact on the country
Source: World Internet Project, International Report 2009

4. Methodology and
data
The NRI 2014 derives from a mixture of quantitative and qualitative
data. Half the variables are quantitative data, collected primarily by
international organizations such as the World Bank and the United
Nations. Half are more qualitative and come from the Executive
Opinion Survey, which the Forum administers annually to 15,000
leaders globally.

5. The Networked
Readiness Index
2014: A Global
Overview

6. The top 10 rankings
in the index continue
to be dominated by
Northern European
economies, the
Asian tigers, and
some of the most
advanced Western
economies.

7. Top performers The top rankings remain very stable from the previous year, with
no movement in the top 6, and negligible changes in the rest. The
exception is Hong Kong SAR, which climbs six positions to 8th.
Three Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway) are among
the top 5. Denmark and Iceland also feature in the top 20.
— The Asian tigers also perform very strongly, with Singapore,
Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Korea in the top ten, and
Taiwan (China) at 14th.
— The top 10 also includes some of the most advanced Western
economies – the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States,
and the United Kingdom.
— Finland tops the rankings again with a strong performance
across the board – 1st in the readiness subindex thanks to an
outstanding digital ICT infrastructure, and 2nd in both the
usage and impact subindexes.
— With the best pro-business and pro-innovation
environment, Singapore (2nd overall) continues to obtain
the top ranking for ICT impact.

8. The annual NRI
rankings reflect the
situation only at a
given time. We have
therefore identified
four different groups
of countries based
on the development
of their NRI score
over the last three
years.
Rising stars: NRI scores above average
and growing more rapidly than average
— Armenia
— Georgia
— Kazakhstan
— Panama
— Qatar
— United Arab Emirates
Question marks: NRI scores below
average but quickly catching up
— Bolivia
— Ecuador
— Haiti
— Nicaragua
— Peru
— Suriname
— Swaziland
— Yemen
Sliding stars: NRI scores above
average, but evolution seems to be
lagging
— Barbados
— Denmark
Laggards: NRI below average and
lagging increasingly behind
— Benin
— Botswana
— Burundi
— Chad
— Malawi
— Mozambique
— Timor-Leste
— Tunisia

9. The NRI 2014 and
its evolution since
2012

10. Evolutionary
analysis of NRI
results
From this evolutionary analysis, we can derive several conclusions:
Several oil- and gas-rich economies in the Commonwealth of
Independent States and Gulf Cooperation Council are quickly
improving their digital ecosystems. Their governments have
recognized the importance of investing in ICTs as a means to diversify
their economies.
— Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are lagging behind, with
no sign of improvement. As the positive impact of ICTs becomes
increasingly apparent, this gap may have considerable
consequences for their future economic development if actions are
not adopted urgently.
— In Latin America, countries nearer the bottom of the
rankings are making significant strides to improve their digital
potential.
— Barbados, and especially Denmark (always at the forefront of
the rankings) must not be complacent, and should address
any weaknesses that may hamper their progress

11. NRI and the BRICS
economies
We have observed that the BRICS economies – Brazil, the Russian
Federation, India, China and South Africa – are now struggling to
maintain the rapid growth of recent years.
One of the main ways to support sustained and stable growth in the
long term is through improved use of digital ecosystems. The NRI
results for the past years shows that, in general, little progress has
been achieved in BRICS economies in this regard.
Results have remained relatively stable across virtually all pillars.
The only exception has been a slight improvement in the individual
usage score.
This stability has caused a drop in global rankings because other
economies are progressing faster in developing and leveraging
their ICT potential.
With the exception of the Russian Federation, which rises six places in
the rankings, all other BRICS economies have dropped over time, in
some cases significantly, and now find themselves around the middle
of the overall rankings.

12. NRI scores in
BRICS economies,
2012 and 2014:
Stability but little
progress

13. Regional highlights:
Europe and the
Commonwealth of
Independent States
Several European countries lead the NRI rankings, with six
European economies – Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland
and the United Kingdom – in the top ten.
A digital divide nevertheless persists within the European
Union, with Southern and Central and Eastern European economies
continuing to lag behind.
— Performance, however, does vary even within these groups of
countries. Estonia (21st) achieves scores similar to those in Western
Europe. In Southern Europe, Portugal (33rd) and Spain (34th)
outperform Greece (74th).
— In comparison with their counterparts in North and Western
Europe, business usage of ICT is particularly low in EU member
states in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe.
— Within the Commonwealth of Independent States, several
countries improve their performances, reflecting the key
importance they have placed on ICTs to diversify their
economies.

14. The digital divide in
the European
Union
Central, Eastern and
Southern European
member states
continue to lag
behind their Western
European
counterparts.
The gap is apparent
for all ten
pillars, although it is
more pronounced
within some.

15. Regional highlights:
Asia and the Pacific
With three economies from the region in the top 10 – Singapore, Hong
Kong SAR and the Republic of Korea - and several countries showing
improvement, Asia and the Pacific is very dynamic and active in
developing its ICT agenda.
Yet a significant digital divide persists between the most advanced
economies (the Asian Tigers and Japan) and emerging economies and
other trailing countries.
Other highlights:
— Taiwan (China) slips to 14th place despite a stable performance in
terms of score.
— Australia (18th), New Zealand (20th) and Malaysia (30th) remain in
the same position as last year. Japan (16th) moves up five places.
— China falls four places to 62nd, despite an increase in its overall
score.
— Indonesia climbs 12 places to 64th position, the third best
result among ASEAN countries, but considerably lower
than Singapore and Malaysia.

16. Regional highlights:
Latin America and
the Caribbean
Improving the connectivity of Latin America and the Caribbean
continues to present a major challenge despite the recent efforts of
many countries to develop and update their ICT infrastructures.
Countries such as Chile (35th), Panama (43rd), Uruguay (56th) and
Colombia (63rd) have, however, made significant progress in
developing and ensuring more and better access to ICT infrastructure,
resulting in higher ICT usage.
Other highlights:
— Despite a slight increase in NRI score, Brazil drops nine positions to
69th as other economies have been faster to embrace the digital
revolution.
— After a couple of years of significant improvements in the
rankings, Mexico falls 16 positions to 79th.
— Peru jumps 13 places to attain 90th position, thanks to some
improvement in its ICT infrastructure.
— Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua have also improved their
scores significantly since 2012

17. Regional highlights:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to expand the share of the population
covered by, and having access to, mobile telephony, and to increase
the number of Internet users. In some countries – such as South Africa
– this number has almost doubled.
These improvements have led to many important innovations,
providing more and better services that were previously unavailable,
such as financial services. But the region overall continues to suffer
from a relatively poor ICT infrastructure.
Other highlights:
— Mauritius recovers the ground lost last year and moves up seven
positions to 48th.
— Despite higher ICT penetration among individuals, the rankings of
South Africa (70th) and Kenya (92nd) remain unaltered.
— In East Africa, Zambia (110th), Uganda (115th) and Tanzania
(125th) continue to lag behind.
— In West Africa, many countries – such as Senegal (113th),
Gabon (128th) and Cameroon (131st) – remain at the
bottom of the rankings.

18. Regional highlights:
The Middle East and
North Africa
The ability of countries to leverage ICTs to boost competitiveness and
well-being continues to vary widely in the Middle East and North Africa.
Israel and several Gulf Cooperation Council states maintain their
strong performance, but many countries in North Africa continue to lag
behind.
Other highlights:
— Israel maintains its position at 15th, leading the regional rankings.
— Qatar remains stable at 23rd and leads the rankings in the Arab
world.
— In North Africa, countries – except Algeria – suffer significant
drops and are positioned in the lower half of the rankings.
— For example, Egypt (91st) falls 11 places and Morocco
(99th) drops 10. Individual ICT uptake has slightly improved
in both, but progress in this regard is slower than in many
other countries.

19. Conclusions The NRI 2014 helps to identify and define policies and measures
that can effect change to achieve the full potential of ICTs.
The digital divide between advanced economies and emerging
ones persists. This is particularly evident in terms of the economic and
social impacts that ICTs can provide.
The least developed countries suffer from slow progress in
building and upgrading infrastructure, unfavorable business and
innovation conditions, and weaknesses in their educational
systems. The situation is particularly worrisome in sub-Saharan
African countries.
However, some countries, notably in the Commonwealth of
Independent States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, have made
significant progress in recent years, channeling many of their fossil fuel
revenues towards ICT investments.
Large disparities persist within all regions as well as between them
All five BRICS economies appear to face difficulties in developing
and benefiting from their digital potential.

20. To read detailed results and further analysis of the Networked
Readiness Index, go to www.xyz.com for the World Economic
Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2014