(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) flagship annual report 'Measuring the Information Society Report' has identified Gulf countries among the group of 'most dynamic countries' having recorded above-average improvements in their ICT Development Index (IDI) rank over the past 12 months.
According to the UN report Bahrain UAE Qatar Saudi Arabia and Oman are the top five among Arab states and within the top 60 in the IDI a composite measure that ranks 166 countries according to their level of ICT access use and skills.
Among the Arab states Bahrain has been ranked number one with an IDI of 7.40 while UAE jumped 14 places to be placed at second with an IDI of 7.03. Qatar was placed third with 7.01 followed by Saudi Arabia in fourth and Oman in fifth position with IDIs of 6.36 and 6.10 respectively.
Jamil Ezzo director general ICDL Arabia the governing body and certification authority for the International Computer Driving Licence certification programme in Egypt GCC States and Iraq said 'These are exciting times for the ICT sector as the world is shifting towards a smarter society characterised by the integration of fresher technologies the adoption of new standards and legislations on digital advancement and the emergence of products and solutions for mobility business and the likes. The recent UN study demonstrates that GCC is playing a leading role in the technology shift with five GCC states joining the world's top 60 countries in CT development. The UAE in particular has made a significant improvement jumping 14 positions to its current global ranking of 32.'
The IDI's top 30 rankings include Australia Bahrain (rank 27) Canada Japan Macau New Zealand Singapore and the US. Denmark was ranked first followed by South Korea in second position. The UAE Qatar Saudi Arabia and Oman are placed at 32nd 34th 47th and 52nd rank respectively. Almost all countries surveyed improved their IDI rankings with the CIS and Arab states demonstrating the highest improvements in regional IDI averages.
The report further highlighted that Internet usage continued to grow steadily at 6.6 per cent globally in 2014. The number of Internet users in developing countries has doubled in the last five years (2009-14) with two thirds of all users now living in the developing countries while almost 44 per cent of households globally will have Internet access at home at the end of 2014 up from 40 per cent last year and 30 per cent in 2010.
'In developed countries 78 per cent of households now have home Internet access compared to 31 per cent in developing countries with just five per cent in the 48 UN Least Developed Countries.'
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