India slips five places in global IT rankings

India has slipped by five places on the INSEAD and World Economic Forum’s Annual Global Information Technology Report, despite the country’s thrust on IT for inclusive growth and modernisation.

India has moved to 48th rank on the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) featured in the report, down from 43rd position last year. China consolidates its position at 36th after years of impressive progression in the rankings.

With coverage of 138 economies worldwide, the Report is a comprehensive international assessment of the impact of ICT (information and communication technology) on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

NRI examines how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of individuals, businesses and governments to use and benefit from ICT; and, third, their actual usage of available ICT.

While India was better on the readiness component, ranking at 33, it ranked 67 on the usage component. On the environment component, India ranked 58.

Similar to the 2009-2010 report, Sweden and Singapore led the rankings by placing first and second in the NRI, respectively. Finland (3) rose in the rankings, followed by Switzerland (4) and the America (5).

The Nordic countries led in leveraging ICT. With Denmark in 7th and Norway in 9th place, all are in the top 10, except for Iceland, ranked in 16th position.

Led by Singapore in second place, the other Asian economies continue to make progress in the ranking, with Taiwan, China, and Korea improving five places to 6th and 10th, respectively, and Hong Kong at 12th.

The NRI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organisations) in the countries included in the report.