RP 70th among 115 countries in ICT networked readiness

Despite the government’s strong focus on information and communications technology (ICT), the Philippines still falls short of world standards, ranking only 70th among 115 economies in a survey on network readiness.

Other Asian countries, however, were praised "for doing extremely well" this year and making it into the top 50, particularly Taiwan which entered the top 10 for the first time.

"The rise of Taiwan as an ICT powerhouse in the last three decades, as a result of intelligent public policies and public-private synergies in the ICT sector, is indeed exceptional and is the object of a specific case study included in the report this year," the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its Networked Readiness Index Rankings for 2005-2006.

The rankings will serve as a basis for the WEF’s Global Information Technology Report, which details countries’ readiness for ICT.

Factors considered in the index include the environment for ICT offered by a country, the readiness of its key stakeholders such as individuals, businesses and governments and their usage of ICT.

The United States topped the list with a score of 2.02 while Asian ICT powerhouse Singapore came in second with a score of 1.89. Nordic countries Denmark (1.80), Iceland (1.78) and Finland (1.72) ranked third to fifth, respectively.

Taiwan (1.51) was the seventh while the Hong Kong-Special Administrative Region was 11th.

At 70th place, the Philippines garnered a score of -0.37 while Ethiopia, which was ranked last, has a score of -1.39.

Other countries in the top 10 include Sweden (1.49), seventh; Switzerland (1.48), ninth; and the United Kingdom (1.44).

Two of the world’s most populous nations, India and China, both made it to the top 50, with India (0.23) landing in 40th place and China (-0.01) in 50th place. Indonesia (-0.36) ranked 68th while Costa Rica (-0.37) was 69th.

Asian countries that did worse than the Philippines were Vietnam (75th), Sri Lanka (83rd) and Mongolia (92nd). Cameroon, in Africa, ranked 99th.

The WEF cited the US for its "impressive performance in the areas of ICT physical infrastructure, a broadly supportive market environment and high levels of business and government usage of the latest technologies."

It also said the US continues to lead the world in technological innovation, helped by the excellent quality of its higher education institutions and extensive levels of cooperation between its research bodies and the business community.

"The United States also stands out for the ready availability of venture capital — key for start-ups to develop and prosper in what can be a risky sector. Also noteworthy is the prominent role assumed by the private sector in research and development as well as cooperation with the public sector in innovation and ICT penetration," it added. — Pia Lee-Brago