US and Malaysia ranked first on NSN Connectivity Scorecard 2009
by Teresa Cottam
Nokia Siemens Networks yesterday unveiled the findings of its new Connectivity Scorecard 2009. The report, the second commissioned by NSN, was written by Professor Waverman, Fellow of the London Business School, and by the consulting group LECG. NSN says its aims are “to measure the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers in 50 countries make use of connectivity technologies to enhance economic and social prosperity” where connectivity is “the bundle of infrastructure, complementary skills, software and informed usage that makes communications networks the key driver of productivity and economic growth”.
The study looks at two types of economy – so-called ‘innovation economies’ and ‘resource and efficiency’ economies. The study is designed for comparison within each group of economies, though direct comparison between the two groups is not possible due to different methodologies.
Key findings for each groups were:
Innovation economies
- The US is ranked as the leader of the innovation economies with a score of 7.71, although the study’s authors note that there is still considerable room for improvement.
- A cluster of Northern European countries closely follow, including Sweden (7.47), Denmark (7.18), Netherlands (6.75), Norway (6.51) and the UK (6.44).
- The UK has a higher ranking than “might be expected” say the authors, but they caution that despite a strong business sector it needs to improve its use of ICT in key industries (eg science) and has risks due to IT-intensive industries such as financial services being under pressure.
- Australia leads the Asia-Pacific economies with a score of 6.14, or 8th place, closely followed by Singapore (5.99) and Japan (5.87).
- Germany ranks at 5.37, the median of the innovation economies.
Resource and efficiency economies
- Malaysia (7.07) leads the index for resource and efficiency driven economies, with Turkey close behind at 6.71.
- South Africa is the highest ranked African economy, in fourth place with a score of 5.76.
- Chile is the highest ranked economy in South America with a score of 6.59 (3rd overall).
- Despite recent growth, China (3.19) and India (1.88) trail at 15th and 20th respectively in the resource and efficiency economies. China is just below the the median score of 3.60.
The authors warn that even highly ranked countries have little room for complacency, however. “At a time when governments around the world are looking to jump start their economies with a variety of stimuli packages, the Connectivity Scorecard shows that every single one of them, even the United States, has plenty of room to develop their ICT infrastructure and improve the actual use of it to the benefit of both the economy and society,” said Professor Waverman.
All over the world, government ministers are consulting with their economics advisers on how to get their economies growing again. I believe the debate about the role ICT can play in stimulating growth is one that should be joined with great urgency. I am delighted that it is already happening in many countries, I would urge others to follow suit.”
The launch presentation of the NSN Connectivity Scorecard can be found here.
