In a new study called “Global Information Technology Report 2014,” the World Economic Forum refers to the United Arab Emirates as a “rising star.” The reason is the country’s impressive performance on the latest Information and Communications Technology index. The UAE climbed the overall network readiness ranking with one spot, landing on the 24th. This list examines the ability of countries to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for well-being and growth.
The country also impressed n a number of subindexes which were also included in the report. As a stared, it was ranked 9th on the Government Online Service Index, and 8th on the list measuring the availability of latest technologies. Even stronger was its performance in terms of government procurement of advanced technology products where it is 3rd in the world. Only Qatar and Singapore managed to surpass the UAE here.
The United Arab Emirates is not the only country from the Middle East that is included in the overall ranking. However, only Qatar (23) is listed at a highest position than it. In addition, the majority of the countries from the region have dropped on the ranking. Kuwait, for instance, has fallen with 10 spots, landing on the 72nd place this year. Similar is the IT performance of Saudi Arabia (32), Iran (104) and Pakistan (111). Together with Jordan which climbed three spots to the 44th, the United Arab Emirates makes an exception to this tendency.
On a more global level, this year’s leaders are almost the same as those in 2013. On the first spot is Finland, followed by Singapore on the second. The rest of the top 10 is dominated by North European countries – Sweden (3), the Netherlands (4), Norway (5) and the United Kingdom (9).
Here are the 10 highest-ranked countries on the 2014 networked readiness report:
- Finland
- Singapore
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Switzerland
- United States
- Hong Kong SAR
- United Kingdom
- Korea, Rep.
- 24. United Arab Emirates
According to the report, a great number of today’s biggest emerging economies fail to unleash their full potential in terms of the use of digital technology. In addition, it has found that there continues to be a great gap between the most networked economies and pretty much every other country.
The research also makes an interesting conclusion. It states that data is the new oil or gold. Moreover, it even says that this new asset can bring a true economic revolution in the world.
