The UK may be increasing its broadband penetration, but
it is falling behind Scandinavia in the information revolution,
according to new research from analyst group IDC.
The company said that Nordic countries dominated its annual
index of top IT nations, while the US and the UK barely scrape into
the top 10.
IDC’s Information Society Index (ISI) measures the abilities of
53 nations to participate in the information revolution.
The index claims to quantify a nation's ability to “access and
absorb information and information technology” based on four key
areas: computers, internet, telecom services and receptivity to
technology.
Factors considered include PC and internet usage, e-commerce,
telecommunications infrastructure, broadband and wireless
subscribers, education levels, press freedom and government
corruption.
The results show that technology adoption tends to increase
along with levels of civil liberties and education, said David
Emberley, a senior analyst with IDC’s Worldwide IT Markets and
Strategies group.
The exception was adoption of wireless technology, which is
growing faster in less developed economies.
“There seems to be a loophole where wireless adoption is
concerned. This is one area in which consumer adoption has been
strong even in some of those countries with lower overall scores
for social freedoms,” Emberley said.
The UK scraped into 10th place, although its communication
structure ranked only 22nd, putting the UK’s use of wireless and
broadband below that of the Czech Republic and Australia.
However, the numbers shows some improvement: in 2003, the UK was
not ranked in the top 10 countries at all for technology adoption,
according to the Index.
However, it should be noted that the index is based on figures
for 2002. More recent figures from Oftel show that broadband
adoption in the UK is now 20%, with five million consumers
connected to the high-speed technology.
The index named Sweden the world's top information-compatible
nation for the fifth year running. Scandinavian countries generally
scored highly; the region’s four nations grabbed four of the top
five spots.
Sweden’s high score is partly explained by the country’s high
adoption of wireless technologies.
IDC reported that a quarter of all users accessing the web do so
via mobile devices. Mobile services are now subscribed to by 80% of
the Swedish population, the report said.
The US came in eighth in the research company's rankings. Lowest
overall scores on the IDC Index were awarded to Vietnam, Indonesia,
India, China and Turkey.
Sally Flood writes for Techworld.com