Network ready: What does it take? Singapore knows

07 กรกฎาคม 2559

Singapore most ready to benefit from emerging technology in worldwide comparison of what makes countries "network ready" including Thailand. Download report.

TECHNOLOGY & INVESTMENT

Singapore booms from tech innovation

6/07/2016
AP News Agency

GENEVA - Singapore, the United States, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Israel are getting the biggest bang for their buck in economic and digital innovation, according to a survey released Wednesday by the organisers of the Davos economic forum (download free report here).

The Geneva- based World Economic Forum says in its new Global Information Technology Report that trends suggest individuals, not business or government, are driving the digital revolution.

An already large gap in infrastructure between rich and developing countries is widening also, the report shows.

"Governments or businesses are not leveraging digital technology sufficiently," said WEF competitiveness chief Margareta Drzeniek-Hanouz.

Developing nations could benefit by providing affordable access to technology to their people.

For example, some of these countries (such as Thailand) are exploring new business models to leapfrog the internet into mobile telephone payment systems (see here).

SINGAPORE TOPPED THE LIST

The 289-page report, whose authors also hail from France's Insead business school, Cornell University, and US-based technology company Cisco Systems, said that Singapore topped the list in its Network Readiness Index -- a gauge of countries' preparedness to tap into the benefits of emerging technologies.

The US and Japan joined seven European countries rounding out the top 10.

In that ranking, Russia remained 41st and China rose three places to 59th. South Africa jumped 10 spots to 65th.

(Source: World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report 2016)

WHAT DOES THE INDEX MEAN?

The Network Readiness Index (NRI) is based on 53 indicators that are organized in a networked readiness framework (see above).

"Networked readiness" measures whether a country has what it takes "for digital technologies to unleash their potential" and impact the economy and society.

TEN PILLARS OF NETWORKED READINESS

Here is what the 10 pillars (or sub-indexes) of the index measure:

The Social impacts pillar measures "access to basic services (education, financial services, and healthcare); the use of the Internet at school... the impact...on government efficiency; and the quality and usefulness of information and services provided by a country for the purpose of engaging its citizens in public policymaking through the use of e-government programs."

The Environment pillar measures how well "market conditions and regulatory framework support entrepreneurship, innovation, and ICT development."

The Political and regulatory environment pillar measures "the extent of intellectual property (IP) rights protection, the prevalence of software piracy, the efficiency and independence of the judiciary, the efficiency of the law-making process, and the overall quality of regulations pertaining to ICTs."

The Business and innovation environment pillar measures "red tape, the ease of starting a business, and taxation... the overall availability of technology, the intensity of competition, the demand conditions for innovative products ... and the availability of venture capital for funding innovation related projects."

The Infrastructure pillar measures "mobile network coverage, international Internet bandwidth, secure Internet servers, and electricity production."

The Affordability pillar measures mobile telephone and broadband internet costs and the extent of market liberalisation which typically leads to more intense competition which in turn tends to reduce retail prices in the long run.

The Skills pillar measures "enrollment rate in secondary education, the overall quality of the education system, and of mathematics and science education in particular, and the adult literacy rate." '

The Individual usage pillar measures mobile telephone penetration as well as "internet usage, personal computer (PC) ownership, and the use of social networks."

The Business usage pillar measures "the extent to which businesses in a country use the internet for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) operations, as well as their efforts to integrate ICTs in their operations... [and]... the extent of staff training as a proxy for the capacity of management and staff to innovate."

The Government usage pillar measures "the availability and quality of government online services."

The Economic impacts pillar measures "the number of patent applications as well as by the role of ICTs in the development of new products, processes, and organizational models... [and] the overall shift of an economy toward more knowledge intensive activities."