Businesses and governments must make better use of their communications and computing infrastructure if they are to benefit from the full economic and social benefits of ICT, according to a breakthrough study by Professor Leonard Waverman of the
According to the study, commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, even the world’s best connected countries are not exploiting communications technologies to their fullest potential and in many cases policy and regulatory activity designed to promote connectivity is not having the impact intended.
The Connectivity Scorecard ranks the
The Connectivity Scorecard measures the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies – the copper wires, fiber-optic lines, mobile phones and PCs that underpin today’s information economy – to enhance social and economic prosperity. Countries typically considered to be highly connected achieved only modest scores on the Scorecard – the average score for a group of 16 countries that include the
These results indicate an opportunity for countries to add hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefit by rethinking how they measure and enable connectivity, according to the study authors. The authors point to a well-known study by Crandall and Jackson that showed a $500 bln long-term economic benefit to the
Innovation-driven economies – Connectivity score
United States – 6.97
Sweden – 6.83
Japan – 6.80
Canada – 6.50
Finland – 6.10
UK – 6.10
Australia – 5.93
Germany – 5.52
France – 5.07
Korea – 4.78
Hong Kong SAR – 4.46
Italy – 3.85
Spain – 3.56
Hungary – 3.18
Czech Republic – 3.11
Poland – 2.18
The Scorecard is also unique in categorizing indicators of connectivity by consumer, business and government, with weightings tailored to each country. Low scores reflect gaps in a country’s infrastructure, usage or both. The
“This study is a call to arms for government and businesses. In a period of great economic uncertainty there are great benefits to be gained from the effective use of communications infrastructure. And as we move toward the vision of five billion people connected by 2015, policy makers and business leaders must simultaneously encourage the deployment of infrastructure and invest in the complementary assets – people – that will enable this infrastructure to be used to its maximum potential,†said Ilkka Lakaniemi, Head of global political dialogues and initiatives at Nokia Siemens Networks.
The research also finds that different countries have different “to-do lists†to achieve maximised gains from connectivity. The U.S. needs to address the issue of raising broadband penetration and improving affordability; Korea needs to understand why its businesses spend apparently so little on enterprise telephony and IP applications; India and Nigeria face the daunting challenges of improving performance on basic literacy and access measures, while not falling behind in the deployment of cutting-edge broadband and mobility technologies.