World ICT rankings: US stays at top, UK falls to 15th

The World Economic Forum this week published an assessment of information and communications technologies on 102 economies worldwide. The US came top, while the UK slid from 7th place last year, to 15th place this year.

The Global Information Technology Report, now in its third year of publication, assesses the impact of ICT on the development of economies. A key part of the Report, the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), measures how prepared each economy is to participate in and benefit from ICT developments.

The US tops the rankings this year, primarily because of its superior ranking in the usage of ICT by businesses and the government. According to the report, the US also remains the most innovative in the world, which has allowed it to maintain its leadership in the rankings over the last three years.

Singapore is in second place - due to the success of its public-private partnerships to promote ICT penetration and usage - while Finland, Sweden and Denmark come in third, fourth and fifth respectively. These countries post among the highest ICT penetration rates, which have buoyed them to places within the top ten in the rankings over the last three years.

The UK, however, can only manage 15th place; a disappointing result, considering that last year the UK was in 7th position. Germany is 11th, France 19th and Ireland holds the 22nd spot.

"The use and application of ICT remain one of the most powerful engines for economic growth. ICT also continues to be the best hope for developing countries to accelerate the development process. More than ever, we must all intensify our efforts to enable individuals, businesses and governments to benefit more fully from the use and application of ICT," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

His words came the day before the opening of the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The aim of the summit is to find ways of using ICT to improve the global economy and tackle worldwide problems such as poverty.

Delegates from 175 countries are attending the meeting, although only 60 heads of state or government will appear, few of whom will be from the West.

The summit is due to approve a Declaration of Principles for governing the information society together with an Action Plan for implementing them. However, paving the way for agreement has not been easy. Delegates were at odds over the question of who should govern the internet until almost the last minute.

At present, ICANN, the US controlled Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is in charge of the rules and regulations governing the internet, but many developing countries argue that the internet should be in the hands of an international body such as the UN. Most developed countries disagree.

According to Reuters the situation was only saved by a compromise agreement that a committee should be set up to consider questions of internet management.

Another controversial issue was the call for a "Digital Solidarity Fund", which would provide developing nations with investments necessary to set up communications and internet infrastructures. This suggestion was rejected by those countries that would have to pay into the fund and, according to Reuters, the Declaration simply states that the issue will be investigated before the next summit.

The summit is due to last until Friday. A second summit will be held in Tunis in 2005.