NETWORK READINESS
The other countries in the GCC region have also done commendably. The United Arab Emirates is fairly stable at the overall 24th position. The country has risen in the rankings in recent years, reflecting the increasingly central role ICT occupies in the government’s agenda as an enabling infrastructure for economic diversification and a target sector in itself (ranked a high 3rd for government readiness). The government’s focus in the sector has been matched by an equal interest in using the latest technologies by individuals (5th and 21st for individual readiness and usage, respectively), with a stellar increase in ICT penetration rates over the last few years. Other competitive advantages are to be found in the very ICT-friendly market environment (18th) and infrastructure for ICT (28th).
Enabling The Transformation
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Qatar is up five places to 25th rank overall, with improvements across the board, particularly in the readiness (4th, up eight places) and usage (34th, up six places) components. Similar to the United Arab Emirates, the government has consistently prioritised ICT diffusion and usage in recent years (2nd for government readiness), which has prompted an intense ICT uptake from the citizens (10th and 28th for individual readiness and usage, respectively).
Oman has made an impressive growth in the Global Information Technology Report’s (GITR) Networked Readiness Index (NRI). Excerpts from the GITR 2010-2011 edition:
Bahrain consolidates its position at 30th, displaying notable competitive strengths in the quality of its market environment (9th) and the high degree of preparedness of its citizens to use ICT (15th), an aspect that has already converted to high penetration rates (29th for individual usage). The strong government vision and leadership in ICT diffusion (ranked 14th) has also resulted in first-class e-services (8th), significantly expanding outreach of basic services to citizens (11th), high e-participation (11th), and increased government efficiency (12th).
The Global Information Technology Report’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI) has become the most popular tool to measure the enabling factors that drives networked readiness in different countries. It determines the capacity of countries to fully benefit from new technologies in their competitiveness strategies and their citizens’ daily lives.
Saudi Arabia continues to climb in the rankings, with another fiveposition improvement to 33rd place overall. The country posts advances notably in its environment (32nd) and readiness (24th) components (both up six places). Its solid showing is driven by very ICT conducive market (19th) and regulatory (25th) environments, as well as by a coherent ICT prioritisation in the government’s competitiveness agenda (ranked 12th for government readiness). On a more negative note, Kuwait remains the laggard among the Gulf countries at 75th overall.
The latest report applauds Oman for its efforts to improve the NRI. It states, “Oman also realises an impressive nine-place jump to 41st, with remarkable improvements in all three components: the country is up 14, 12, and 9 positions, respectively, for its environment (43rd), readiness (34th), and usage (43rd)”. Oman’s detailed performance on NRI is showcased in the graphic on page 30.
Overall, three countries the United Arab Emirates (24th), Qatar (25th) and Bahrain (30th) features prominently in the Top 30 rankings. This reflects the especially dynamic ICT uptake in most parts of the region in the context of the sector’s increasing prioritisation in national agendas as a crucial instruement for economic diversification, enhanced efficiency and modernisation.