Malta ranks 27th in global IT report

Malta is given a fairly high ranking in the latest Global Information Technology Report, published by the World Economic Forum yesterday.

Malta features in 27th place in the networked readiness index rankings, one place ahead of Italy, two behind Estonia and three ahead of Slovenia.

The survey showed that EU member states were clearly steaming ahead while accession countries were well placed to boost their economies by using IT.

The Global Information Technology Report has become the world's leading assessment of the impact of information technology on the development of economies. It ranks 102 countries as to how well each economy is prepared to use IT to enhance growth.

The networked readiness index examines the readiness of economies according to three dimensions: the general macroeconomic and regulatory environment for information and communication technology, the readiness of the three key stakeholders - individuals, businesses and governments - to use and benefit from ICT, and their current usage of ICT.

The US tops the list for the third consecutive year, mainly because US businesses and government use IT more than any other country. It also retains the most innovative economy in the world.

Overall, the EU has three Nordic countries in the top five - Finland is ranked third, Sweden fourth and Denmark fifth.

The Czech Republic is ranked in 33rd place, one ahead of the lowest ranked EU country, Greece.

The report singles out Estonia for special praise, saying "its performance is enhanced by an excellent political and regulatory framework for information and communications technology".

The lowest-ranked accession country is Poland, at 47th in the list.

Among the 25 African countries included in the index rankings, South Africa is first, positioned in 37th place overall, boosted by a favourable political and regulatory environment.

Among emerging markets, Israel is ranked 16 overall.

The report shows that IT was fast becoming a powerful tool in the fight against poverty in developing countries.

Over the last three years, the most dramatic growth rates in Europe are the number of cellular mobile phone subscribers, up 122 per cent, and the number of internet users, up to 117 per cent.

In terms of cellular mobile phone subscribers, at least 27 economies in the region have a penetration rate greater than 50 per cent - Luxembourg, Italy, Iceland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have the highest penetration rates in Europe.

For television receivers, 24 economies in the region have over 50 per cent penetration, led by the Faroe Islands, the UK, Sweden and Norway while among the middle income economies in the list are Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic, Russia and Estonia.