This year marks the 13th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Information Technology Report, which provides a comprehensive assessment of networked readiness, or how prepared an economy is to apply the benefits of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to promote economic growth and well-being.
The report ranks the progress of 148 economies in leveraging ICTs to increase productivity, economic growth and the number of quality jobs. The rankings also show how far some countries have gone in bridging the digital divide – not only in terms of developing ICT infrastructure, but also in terms of economic and social impact – and highlight the main strengths and weaknesses countries are facing.
This edition also analyses in detail the rewards and risks associated with big data and what public and private organizations must do to benefit from it. The report remains the most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of its kind. Israel ranked number 15 in this year’s Networked Readiness Index, a measure of a country’s realization of its “digital potential,” or ability to marshal information and communications technology to advance business and society.
Israel “leads the regional rankings with a stable profile” in the use of technology to advance the economy and society in general, the list said. Israel is far ahead of its neighbors in the overall index ranking (Jordan is 44th, Egypt 91st and Syria does not appear on the list), as well as any other Middle Eastern country (the next country from the region on the list is Qatar, ranked 23rd).
Although it portrays itself as an advanced country, Iran is ranked 104th overall and does poorly in almost all indices. Israel is ahead of Iran in almost all areas — except for quality of math & science education, where Iran ranks 40th, and Israel 78th.
The index shows Israel as a world leader in areas such as R&D and innovation and the use of the ICT in business. Israel ranks fifth in the world in the number of patents filed, with 79.4 patents filed per million people, behind Japan (118.9), Finland (110.1), Sweden (88.8) and South Korea (87.8), and ahead of 10th-place United States (51.6).
