In 2005, the U.S. still ranked as the most networked country in the world according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report. This report, which provides an extensive analysis of the economies and network infrastructures of 133 countries, has now demoted the U.S. to fifth place, and ranks Sweden, Singapore, Denmark and Switzerland as the most networked countries in the world. With regards to broadband adoption, the U.S. only ranks 22nd in the world.
U.S. Has Some Catching Up to Do
As the report notes, the U.S. still boasts an environment that is highly conducive for information and communication technologies. The U.S. still ranks first when it comes to IT usage in business, and fourth for IT usage in government. On an individual level, however, the U.S. lags behind many other countries, mainly due to the low mobile subscription penetration rate – where the U.S. only ranks 72nd in the world – and the relatively low number of broadband subscribers (22nd). The report’s authors base this assessment on information from 2008, however, and according to some data we saw earlier this year, broadband penetration in the U.S. was actually down in 2009.
China and India
China, which ranked at the bottom of the report’s annual rankings in 2002 (64th out of 74 countries) has now moved up to 37th place (out of 133 countries). India, too, continues to climb up the the World Economic Forum’s rankings and has now moved up to 43rd place.
