Nepal slips ICT global ranking

Nepal improved its score and featured in the top 20 countries in Asia but slipped seven positions down from last year’s 124th position to 131st among 138 nations in Network Readiness Report 2010-11 published by World Economic Forum.
Among the top 20 Asian countries, Nepal ranked 19th with a score of 2.97 score but positioned at the 131st position in the overall global ranking, where other South Asian countries like India (48), Sri Lanka (66), Pakistan (88) and Bangladesh (115) are ahead of Nepal.
Nepal was ranked 124th with 2.95 score in the Network Readiness Report 2009-10. The country has opened its telecommunications and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector after the popular mass movement of 1990 that overthrew single party system and made way to the liberal economic policy with the multi party democratic system.
There are three major players – Nepal Telecom, UTL and Ncell – that provide the network connectivity and half dozen regional telecom service providers apart from 44 Internet Service Providers, currently.
According to the 10th edition of World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Report, it looks into an ICT-conducive environment as a key precondition of network readiness that requires a society-wide effort and ICT readiness leads to ICT usage and increased impact. It is the most comprehensive and respected international assessment of the preparedness of economies to leverage the networked economy, providing a unique platform for public-private dialogue on best policies and for determining what actions will further national ICT readiness and innovation potential.
Similarly, the Index comprises of three sub-indices Environment sub-index, Readiness sub-index and Usage sub-index.
The Networked Readiness Index measures the propensity for countries to exploit the opportunities offered by information and communications technology. This year’s coverage includes a record number of 138 economies from both the developing and developed world, accounting for over 98 per cent of global GDP.
“A total of 19 Asian countries in the 2010-2011 featured in the Networked Readiness Index, out of 138 countries worldwide,” the report said, adding that among them Singaporeis the most networked nation in Asia. The Southeast Asian city-state ranked second in the world, behind Sweden. Singapore is also the only Asian country ranked higher than the US worldwide.
Five of the Asian countries – Singapore (2), Taiwan (5), South Korea (10), Hong Kong (12), and Japan (19) – are in the top 20 of this year’s index.
Sweden and Singapore continue to top the rankings of the Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011, Transformations 2.0, confirming the leadership of the Nordic countries and the Asian Tiger economies in adopting and implementing ICT advances for increased growth and development.
Finland jumps to third place, while Switzerland and the US are steady in fourth and fifth place respectively. The 10th anniversary edition of the report focuses on ICT’s power to transform society in the next decade through modernisation and innovation.
The Nordic countries lead the way in leveraging ICT. With Denmark in seventh and Norway in nineth place, all are in the top 10, except for Iceland, which is ranked in 16th position.
Each year, the World Economic Forum ranks countries on the basis of how they adopt and implement information technology across their economies. The findings are published in the Global Information Technology Report.
The Networked Readiness Index 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 in the countries included in the report. The survey of over 15,000 executives provides unique data on many qualitative dimensions important to assess national networked readiness.
Information Communications Technology is a key enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world in the aftermath of one of the most serious economic crises in decades. This year's report highlights the key role of ICT as an enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world.