How well connected is your country?

Providing connectivity across a country is one challenge, but quite another to make full use of the deployed infrastructure. This was the realization behind research, commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, which reveals that even the best connected countries, such as Sweden and the USA, have scope to gain more from their connectivity.

The study uses 30 indicators of connectivity to assess the infrastructure, its use and available skills in the consumer, government and business sectors. Measures include workforce IT skills, literacy, the use of enterprise software, women's access to information and communications technology (ICT) and more. The Connectivity Scorecard is unique in categorizing these indicators, with weightings between the three user groups and also between groups of indicators tailored to each country.

The results are used to create the Connectivity Scorecard, which ranks countries into two classifications: 'Innovation driven economies' and 'Efficiency and resource driven economies.' Growth in innovation driven economies comes from new ways of using connectivity, whereas for efficiency and resource driven economies, social development is key in getting the best return on ICT investments.

Malaysia tops the league

Architect of the scorecard, Dr. Leonard Waverman, Professor of Economics at the London Business School says some of the country rankings were unexpected. "Of the nine efficiency and resource driven economies, we were surprised to see Malaysia and Russia at the top and India so low. While India enjoys an image as a tech leader, its IT industry is mainly export-led. The country is vast and has a lack of infrastructure."

Malaysia does consistently well in advancing universal adoption of ICT, scoring highly on broadband penetration, mobile network coverage, and overall internet use. In a recent update of the original scorecard ratings, Malaysia improved its performance, lifting itself into first place in its group, putting Russia into second.

Russia does well mainly for two reasons - its relatively high level of education, with the highest adult literacy rate in the grouping, and its extensive use of mobile technologies. The use of mobile email by Russian businesses, for example, is much higher than in other emerging economies.

Business ICT use is critical

Business ICT use is critical. It is also interesting to note the top position held by the US, which, says Dr Waverman, some indices rate much lower compared to other countries. Although US mobile penetration is relatively low, its use of ICT for business is exceptionally good.

Sweden and Japan come close behind the US in their grouping, with Japan gaining for its high use of mobility solutions by businesses. Korea, a star performer on other indices, finishes tenth largely because very high performance in infrastructure is not matched by correspondingly high scores on usage measures, especially by businesses.

For emerging markets, the opportunity is clear. Although their physical infrastructure may not be as extensive as that in other countries, they have real potential to improve the economic benefits of their ICT through social measures. Improving internet use can be achieved through education and by enabling greater access, especially via mobile technologies.

Cooperation needed to build better scores

"The Connectivity Scorecard clearly demonstrates that by offering more services that can generate economic benefits for users, operators can help to create a better market," explains Mr. Ilkka Lakaniemi, head of global political dialog and initiative at Nokia Siemens Networks.

"They can build greater trust with their customers that will generate long-term growth and bring other benefits such as lower churn. Governments also have a clear role in actively helping the business ecosystem to develop. Raising a country's connectivity score takes a united effort between the different players in the ecosystem, particularly through public-private partnerships."

The Connectivity Scorecard is an important tool for tracking progress in ICT in individual countries. Already the scope of the research is being extended, encompassing other countries. A separate study is being undertaken to assess the environmental impact of connectivity, taking into account aspects such as the energy efficiency of communications networks.

Dr Waverman concludes on a note of warning: "No country performed especially well. Every nation has substantial work to do before achieving an ideal score in connectivity. Not even the world's richest countries can be complacent about their telecom and computing profile."

Visit the Connectivity Scorecard website at  www.connectivityscorecard.org