The new Information and Communications Index of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) compares developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) in 154 countries over a five year period from 2002 to 2007.
The Index combines 11 indicators into a single measure that can be
used as a benchmarking tool globally, regionally and at the country
level. These are related to ICT access, use and skills, such as
households with a computer the number of Internet users; and literacy
levels.
The Index identifies the most advanced countries in ICT as from
Northern Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Korea. Sweden
tops the new Index, followed by Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands,
Iceland, and Norway. They are followed by other, mainly high-income
countries from Europe, Asia, and North America. Western and Northern
Europe and North America are the regions with the highest IDI scores,
and most countries from these regions are among the top twenty ICT
economies. Poor countries, in particular the least developed
countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to
ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and
broadband.
Globally speaking, most progress has been made on ICT access, which
includes fixed and mobile telephony, Internet bandwidth, and
households with computers and Internet. In terms of ICT use, which
includes the number of Internet users, fixed and mobile broadband,
progress has been much slower. In particular broadband, a more recent
technology, still has to take off in many countries.
For further details of the full report, see the ITU press release on
their website: