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UK falls out of global 'ICT readiness' top 10

David Meyer ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 10 Apr 2008 16:57 BST

The UK has fallen out of the top 10 in an international league table of ICT "readiness" and usage.

The UK was ninth last year, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Networked Readiness Index Framework, which the WEF uses to compile its annual Global Information Technology Report. This year's report showed the UK had fallen to 12th place.

According to the WEF, the report "represents an effort to untangle the underlying complexity behind the role of ICT in a nation's development". The framework considers the connectedness and ICT usage of businesses, individuals and governments, as well as the regulatory and economic situation in each country.

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Top of the league this year was Denmark — for the second year in a row — closely followed by Sweden, Switzerland, the US and Singapore. Seven of the top 10 were European countries, but Korea showed the largest improvement in that top group, rising 10 places since last year to number nine.

"The successful experience of the Nordic countries, Singapore, the US or Korea shows that a coherent government vision on the importance of ICT, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation, are key not only for spurring networked readiness, but also to lay the foundations for sustainable growth," said Irene Mia, the report's co-editor and a senior economist at the WEF, on Wednesday.

The report was sponsored this year by Cisco.