For the first time, Denmark tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007’s "Networked Readiness Index", as a culmination of an upward trend since 2003. Denmark’s outstanding levels of networked readiness have to do with the country’s excellent regulatory environment, coupled with a clear government leadership and vision in leveraging ICT for growth and promoting ICT penetration and usage.

With record coverage of 122 economies worldwide and published for the sixth consecutive year, The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) has become the world’s most respected assessment of the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) measures the propensity of 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.

The Report is produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD, the leading international business school, and is sponsored this year by Cisco.

"Leveraging ICT is increasingly becoming an essential instrument for countries and national stakeholders to ensure continued prosperity for their people. Nordic countries have shown how an early focus on education, innovation and promotion of ICT penetration and diffusion is a winning strategy for increased networked readiness and competitiveness. Denmark, in particular, has benefited from very effective government e-leadership, reflected in early liberalization of the telecommunications sector, a first-rate regulatory framework and large availability of e-government services," said Irene Mia, Senior Economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the World Economic Forum and co-editor of the Report.

"In recent years, the world has witnessed the power of ICT in revolutionizing the business and economic landscape and empowering individuals, while fostering social networks and virtual communities. Recognizing the importance of ICT as a driver of growth and prosperity, the World Economic Forum – jointly with INSEAD since 2002 – has produced The Global Information Technology Report each year since 2001, assessing the progress of networked readiness in over 100 economies and providing an authoritative instrument for facilitating public-private dialogue, whereby policy-makers, business leaders and other stakeholders can evaluate progress on a continual basis," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Under the theme, "Connecting to the Networked Economy", The Global Information Technology Report appears at a critical juncture in the evolving role of ICT in the world economy, when access to the global network is increasingly perceived as an important cornerstone for the development of economies and societies. In line with the World Economic Forum’s sustained efforts to expand the geographical coverage of the Report, this year seven new countries from diverse regions of the world (mainly Asia and Africa) have been included in the sample.

"It’s no longer debatable as to whether or not the global economy will become networked – the vast majority of industries are increasingly adopting networked business processes – and the discussion now focuses not on if but how we get connected to maximize the benefits to business and society," said John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco.

The Networked Readiness Index examines the preparedness of countries to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, 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 technology available.

Soumitra Dutta, Chaired Professor of Business and Technology, Dean of External Relations at INSEAD and co-editor of the Report, explained: "The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) provides a snapshot of countries’ weaknesses and strengths with regard to ICT development and capacity to leverage the latter for increased competitiveness, thus offering policy-makers and business leaders a neutral platform for discussion and a useful tool in drawing a roadmap towards increased networked readiness."

The Information Economy Report 2006: The Development Perspective provides unique data on the adoption of ICT by enterprises in developing countries. It also explores ICT policy options in a developing-country context and proposes a framework for national ICT policy reviews and for the design and assessment of pro-poor e-strategies.

The Report´s analysis of trends in core ICT indicators such as the use of Internet and mobile phone, as well as the role of broadband in promoting the information economy, concludes that the diffusion of ICT in developing countries still needs government intervention in areas where private providers might be discouraged to go because of costs associated to geographic hurdles or the absence of a critical mass of customers. Other conclusions are that broadband is key to developing an information economy, and that industrial and trade policies in ICT-producing developing countries should support the creation of business opportunities in ICT-related industries. UNCTAD´s research on measuring the impact of ICTs on GDP in developing countries reveals a positive contribution even in poorer countries. But countries that already have a certain level of ICT uptake seem to benefit most from the new technologies.

The Report presents a model ICT policy review framework developed by UNCTAD which is illustrated with best practice examples from developing countries. Conducting ICT policy reviews, as recommended in the Report, would enable governments to understand the policy challenges and opportunities, and quantify the main achievements regarding the implementation of the national ICT plan; identify critical success factors, best practices and conditions, as well as reasons for failure, in order to be able to adjust and reform their ICT policies; and formulate new and targeted policy decisions to support and accelerate ICT diffusion.

The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), launched today by Transparency International (TI), points to a strong correlation between corruption and poverty, with a concentration of impoverished states at the bottom of the ranking.

http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/cpi_2006

Young women and men are among the world’s greatest assets. They bring energy, talent and creativity to economies and create the foundations for future development. But today’s youth also represent a group with serious vulnerabilities in the world of work. In recent years slowing global employment growth and increasing unemployment, underemployment and disillusionment have hit young people the hardest. As a result, today’s youth are faced with a growing deficit of decent work opportunities and high levels of economic and social uncertainty.

This report adds to growing evidence of a global situation in which young people face increasing difficulties when entering the labour force. One of the principal findings of the report is that a global deficit of decent work opportunities has resulted in a situation in which one out of three youth in the world is either seeking but unable to find work (the unemployed), has given up on the job search entirely (the discouraged) or is working but still living below the US$2 a day poverty line (the working poor). This second version of the GET Youth (see also GET Youth 2004) updates the key world and regional youth labour market indicators, but offers original research as well, including a careful estimation of the number and share of youth who work but are living in households of less than US$1 or 2 a day (the so-called youth working poor). The working poor youth estimate can serve as a proxy for income-related underemployment and therefore fits nicely within the framework presented in the report for identifying youth who are most at risk to suffering from degrees of exclusion from decent work and therefore a framework for identifying whom would benefit most from targeted interventions.

Without the right foothold from which to start out right in the labour market, young people are less able to make choices that will improve their own job prospects and those of their future dependents. This, in turn, perpetuates the cycle of insufficient education, low-productivity employment and working poverty from one generation to the next. The report, therefore, adds urgency to the UN call for development of strategies aimed to give young people a chance to make the most of their productive potential through decent employment.

On October 18, 2006 civil society organizations from 59 countries around the world will unveil the Open Budget Index. This is the first index to rate countries on how open their budget books are to their citizens. It is intended to provide citizens, legislators, and civil society advocates with the comprehensive and practical information needed to gauge a government’s commitment to budget transparency and accountability. Armed with this kind of information, lenders, development advocates, and aid organizations can identify meaningful budget reforms needed in specific countries to combat corruption and strengthen basic services to improve people's lives.

http://www.openbudgetindex.org/

Overseas bribery by companies from the world’s export giants is still common, despite the existence of international anti-bribery laws criminalising this practice, according to the Transparency International 2006 Bribe Payers Index (BPI), the most comprehensive survey of its kind to date.

The BPI looks at the propensity of companies from 30 leading exporting countries to bribe abroad. Companies from the wealthiest countries generally rank in the top half of the Index, but still routinely pay bribes, particularly in developing economies. Companies from emerging export powers India, China and Russia rank among the worst. In the case of China and other emerging export powers, efforts to strengthen domestic anti-corruption activities have failed to extend abroad.

“Bribing companies are actively undermining the best efforts of governments in developing nations to improve governance, and thereby driving the vicious cycle of poverty,” said Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle.

Respondents from lower income countries in Africa, for example, identified French and Italian companies as among the worst perpetrators.

“It is hypocritical that OECD-based companies continue to bribe across the globe, while their governments pay lip-service to enforcing the law. TI’s Bribe Payers Index indicates that they are not doing enough to clamp down on overseas bribery,” said David Nussbaum, Chief Executive of Transparency International. “The enforcement record on international anti-bribery laws makes for short and disheartening reading.”

“The rules and tools for governments and companies do exist,” said Nussbaum. ”Domestic legislation has been introduced in many countries following the adoption of the UN and OECD anti-corruption conventions, but there are still major problems of implementation and enforcement.”

This page presents the updated aggregate governance research indicators for 213 countries for 1996–2005, for six dimensions of governance:

Voice and Accountability
Political Stability and Absence of Violence
Government Effectiveness
Regulatory Quality
Rule of Law
Control of Corruption

worldbank.org

There is an immense information and communication technology (ICT) gap, a “digital divide”, between developed and developing countries. A person in a high-income country is over 22 times more likely to be an Internet user than someone in a low-income country. Secure Internet servers, a rough indicator of electronic commerce, are over 100 times more common in high-income than in low-income countries. In high-income countries, mobile phones are 29 times more prevalent and mainline penetration is 21 times that of low-income countries. Relative to income, the cost of Internet access in a low-income country is 150 times the cost of a comparable service in a high-income country. There are similar divides within individual countries. ICT is often non-existent in poor and rural areas of developing countries.

The report is outlined as follows:

The first section presents the information and communication technology diffusion index (ICTDI) for 2004. There is a strong correlation between a country’s ICTDI and its income and level of human development as measured by the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI). The top ranks are dominated by industrial countries from North America, Western Europe and the Asian Tigers, while many of the lower ranking countries are from Africa. Since the ICTDI is measuring the outcome of a complex socio-technical system, the ranks are relatively stable over time; however, more volatility is observed in low-ranking countries than in high-ranking countries.

In section two, we see that regardless of the measure used, the digital divide exists and national rankings are quite consistent. In spite of the fact that there are many Internet cafés and other telecentres in low-income countries, a person in a high-income country is over 22 times more likely to be an Internet user than one in a low-income country; this is significant as 37 per cent of the world population lives in a low-income country.

Section three presents case studies from China, Chile, Botswana, Singapore, India and the United States. These nations were selected because they have combined ICT liberalization — privatization, competition and independent regulation — with responsible government planning, investment and procurement. We briefly outline the broad political and economic context in which telecommunication policy is formed in each nation, describe that policy and examine some of the results.

Section four reviews the history and success of telecommunications and its privatization, competition and independent regulation (PCR), but also examines some of its limitations. This data, and the persistence of the digital divide, suggests that while historically beneficial, PCR may have reached a point of diminishing returns in many nations and that we now need to look beyond PCR. The section is concluded with considering proposals to construct public Internet backbones which would provide neutral connection points for competing service providers — the type of eclectic strategy we have seen in our case studies.

The report concludes with appendices on the methodology used in computing the ICTDI and annexes showing the national ICTDI values for 2004 and the ranks for 1997-2004.

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ISO has just published The ISO Survey of Certifications – 2005, which sheds light on the roles played in globalization by ISO’s standards for quality and environmental management systems. Here is a selection of the main findings.

• Global Trade
ISO 9001:2000 is now firmly established as the globally accepted standard for providing assurance about the quality of goods and services in supplier-customer relations. Up to the end of December 2005, at least 776 608 ISO 9001:2000 certificates had been issued in 161 countries and economies, an increase of 18 % over 2004, when the total was 660 132 in 154 countries and economies.

• Sustainable business
Similarly, ISO 14001 confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. Up to the end of December 2005, at least 111 162 ISO 14001 certificates (1996 and 2004 versions consolidated) had been issued in 138 countries and economies, an increase of 24 % over 2004, when the total was 89 937 in 127 countries and economies.

• Unifying base and supply chains
The status of ISO 9001:2000 as a unifying base for the quality requirements of specific sectors and its use to qualify suppliers in global supply chains is illustrated by the growth of ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification in the automotive sector. Up to the end of December 2005, at least 17 047 ISO/TS 16949:2002 certificates had been issued in 80 countries and economies, an increase of 70 % over 2004 when the total was 10 019 certificates in 62 countries and economies.

• Technical support for regulation
The use of ISO 9001:2000 as a technical support in the regulated area is illustrated by the growth of certification to ISO 13485:2003, for which it provides the core, in the medical device industry. Up to the end of December 2005, at least 5 065 ISO 13485:2003 certificates had been issued in 67 countries and economies, an increase of 111 % over 2004 when the total was 2 403 in 55 countries and economies.

• Tools for new major players
The strong performance of China, which is again in the top 10 countries for growth in both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certification, and of India, which is again in the top 10 for ISO 9001:2000 growth and enters the top 10 for ISO 14001 growth, is no doubt partly linked to their increasing participation in global supply chains, in export trade and in business process outsourcing.

• Rise of services
The rising importance of services in the global economy is borne out by the survey – nearly 33 % of ISO 9001:2000 certificates and 31 % of ISO 14001 certificates in 2005 went to organizations in the service sectors. The latter statistic also illustrates that good environmental management is not just for “smoke stack” industry – and that service providers are accepting their social responsibilities in this area.

The ISO Survey of Certifications - 2005

The Doing Business database provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The Doing Business indicators are comparable across 175 economies. They indicate the regulatory costs of business and can be used to analyze specific regulations that enhance or constrain investment, productivity, and growth.

Current features

New! Doing Business 2007: How to Reform has just been released. This year - Africa is reforming, there are windows of opportunity for reform, and what gets measured gets done. Report overview (PDF, 1.8MB)

Global rankings: Singapore is #1 for ease of doing business

Top reformers: Georgia, Romania and Mexico lead

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