The World Economic Forum has brought out the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2005-2006, which places India at the 40th place in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI). The US has done well to the regain the first position in the rankings with Singapore, Denmark, Iceland and Finland following close.

India, at 40th position in the NRI, has slipped one slot from last year’s 39th rank. At the same time, another Asian big shot, China, drops 9 positions to land in the 50th place. Taiwan, at 7, has come out as the dark horse, gaining 8 positions from last year and entering the top ten for the first time.

The GITR, which, in its fifth year, covered as many as 115 economies worldwide, confirms the dominance of Asian and Nordic countries in the information and communication technology (ICT) arena. It is the world’s most respected assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

The Networked Readiness Index examines an economy’s ICT condition on three dimensions: the general macroeconomic, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholders -- individuals, businesses and governments -- to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies. It measures the propensity for countries to leverage the opportunities offered by ICT for development and increased competitiveness. It also establishes a broad international framework mapping out the enabling factors of such capacity.

(www.efytimes.com)