Apr 12, 2013

Taiwan: 10th In World Economic Forum’s Network Readiness Index


Taiwan moved up to 10th in the world in terms of readiness to use new technology to improve competitiveness and well-being

Below is an article from The China Post:

 

 

 

Taiwan has moved up one place this year to 10th spot worldwide in terms of its readiness to use information and communications technology (ICT) to improve its competitiveness and the well-being of its citizens, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report released Wednesday.

 

Taiwan scored 5.47 out of 7 in the 2013 Networked Readiness Index (NRI) that was at the core of this year's edition of the WEF's Global Information Technology Report.

 

The assessment was based on a broad range of indicators, ranging from Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the availability of venture capital.

 

Indicators such as patent applications and e-government services were also used to evaluate the social and economic impact of digitization.

 

Taiwan excelled in the areas of mobile network coverage and Internet and telephony, ranking first among the 144 economies assessed. This put Taiwan in 10th place overall, up from 9th last year in the annual report.

 

Taiwan was one of the only two Asian countries to rank among the top 10 — the other being Singapore, which placed second in the rankings.

 

The NRI ranked 144 economies around the world based on their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age, said the WEF, which is based in Davos, Switzerland.

 

The capacity is measured by the quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments; the degree of preparedness; the actual usage of ICTs; and the societal and economic impact of ICTs.

 

The Nordic countries and the so-called Asian Tigers — Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea (11th) and Hong Kong (14th) — dominated this year's index thanks to their business-friendly approach, highly skilled populations, and investments in infrastructure, among other strengths, the WEF report said.

 

The top 10 economies in the NRI rankings were Finland, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States and Taiwan, in that order.