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According to the newly-released Global Information and Technology Report 2014, Qatar is ranked 23rd in the Networked Readiness Index and first among the Arab nations out of 148 developed and developing countries, maintaining its ranking from the previous year. |
Finland, Singapore, and Sweden remained the top three ranking countries respectively.
Among the Arab nations, Qatar topped in a number of areas, including government usage of information and communications technology (ICT), ranking 4th in the world.
Qatar ranked second among the Arab nations in the areas of infrastructure and digital content, affordability, skills and readiness, and economic and social impact.
In overall environment – how conducive the country’s market, infrastructure, and regulatory environment is to innovation and ICT development – Qatar ranked 13th, its best score among all sub-indexes.
Qatar ranked 21st in individual usage, and 26th in business usage.
On the environment and usage sub-indexes, Qatar ranks first among Arab nations at 13th and 18th in the world, respectively.
Information and Communications Technology Minister HE Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber said: “The investment that Qatar’s leadership made in next-generation infrastructure nearly a decade ago, a conducive regulatory environment, and a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, have been the very foundation for Qatar’s progress in harnessing the power of ICT for economic and social good.”
The report highlights that Qatar’s most significant strengths include government procurement of advanced technology, mobile network coverage, impact of ICTs on access to basic services, venture capital availability, importance of ICTs to government vision, impact of ICTs on new organisational models, effectiveness of law-making bodies, government success in ICT promotion, use and efficiency, intellectual property protection, quality of educational system, and extent of staff training.
Qatar showed the greatest room for improvement in the area of overall ICT readiness, ranking 36th, and affordability of ICT services (ranking 100th).
The Networked Readiness Index examines how prepared countries are to fully exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age in three areas: general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; readiness of government, individuals, and businesses to use and benefit from ICT; and, the actual societal, environmental and economic impact of ICTs.
The assessment is based on a broad range of indicators from Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the availability of venture capital.
In addition, indicators such as patent applications and e-government services gauge the social and economic impact of digitisation.
One of the key findings of the report is that countries cannot only rely on ICT infrastructure development to become competitive.
Rather, the benefits from ICTs can only be fully derived when a country implements a holistic strategy aimed at creating conditions for skills, innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish alongside modern infrastructure.
HE al-Jaber also noted: “As we shift to a knowledge-based economy, much work remains to be done, including implementing the National Broadband Plan, accelerating our e-government efforts, supporting an open and competitive ICT sector, enhancing our cyber security and safety, and empowering our people with the ICT skills to thrive in the digital world.”
The annual report, whose theme this year is “Rewards and Risks of Big Data”, was released by the World Economic Forum and INSEAD yesterday.
This is the world’s most comprehensive international assessment of the impact of ICT on nations’ development and international competitiveness, with this year’s coverage extending to a record number of countries.
