The new World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report is out, and it ranks Denmark and Sweden as the first and second most-networked economies on earth. No. 3 is Switzerland, which would make you think that the key to networkedness is being a small, rich European country. But then, rocketing up the rankings from seventh place last year, is the United States of America.
But this apparently doesn’t mean we have better broadband than all the places lower on the list. We just, according to the people at Insead, who assembled the list for the WEF, have better laws and stuff. Reports John Markoff in the NYT:
“What the U.S. has is a number of strengths along a number of dimensions,” said Soumitra Dutta, a professor of information systems at Insead and the director of the study. “It is not just a question of technology. Political and economic factors become extremely important.”
He pointed to France as a country that was a technology leader in terms of network services that had trailed in the study, ranked at 21. “It’s not because France is lacking in technology,” Professor Dutta said. “If you look at other kinds of regulatory issues and labor conditions, you find a rigid situation that prohibits companies from making the most effective use of technology.”
And maybe it’s just that we Americans like networking so much.
Anyway, here’s the top 10 list of the world’s purportedly most networked economies:
1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Switzerland
4. US
5. Singapore
6. Finland
7. Netherlands
8. Iceland
9. Korea
10. Norway