2009-04-02

ICT Development Index compares 154 countries

Continuing the theme of Tuesday's blog, today's blog is also about connectivity. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s new ICT Development Index (IDI) compares developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) in 154 countries over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007.

The Index combines 11 indicators into a single measure that can be used as a benchmarking tool globally, regionally and at the country level. These are related to ICT access, use and skills, such as households with a computer the number of Internet users; and literacy levels.

The Index identifies the most advanced countries in ICT as from Northern Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Korea. Sweden tops the new Index, followed by Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway. They are followed by other, mainly high-income countries from Europe, Asia, and North America. Western and Northern Europe and North America are the regions with the highest IDI scores, and most countries from these regions are among the top twenty ICT economies. Poor countries, in particular the least developed countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and broadband.

Globally speaking, most progress has been made on ICT access, which includes fixed and mobile telephony, Internet bandwidth, and households with computers and Internet. In terms of ICT use, which includes the number of Internet users, fixed and mobile broadband, progress has been much slower. In particular broadband, a more recent technology, still has to take off in many countries.

For further details of the full report, see the ITU press release on their website:

http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2009/07.html

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