(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar has been ranked 27th in the world for "network readiness", according to the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2015.
However, the country slipped by four ranks this year compared with GITR 2014.
The report was co-published by the World Economic Forum, INSEAD and Cornell University, with the support of Strategy&, formerly Booz & Company and CISCO.
The Network Readiness Index 2015 ranks three GCC countries in the top 30 list globally for the third consecutive year (United Arab Emirates € 23, Qatar € 27, Bahrain € 30), and another two (Saudi Arabia € 35, Oman € 42) in the top 50, demonstrating that they continue to embrace information and communication technology (ICT) to boost their national competitiveness.
In contrast, countries in the Levant and North Africa still lag behind and face challenges to fully leverage ICT, including Morocco (78), Egypt (94), Lebanon (99) and Algeria (120).
Bruno Lanvin, co-editor of the report, executive director (Global Indices, INSEAD) said, "Qatar's performance remains high, at 27th worldwide. Yet, a few indicators explain the drop of four ranks that we see in this year's GITR, and they relate mostly to the 'readiness' pillar of the NRI model: affordability in particular has dropped significantly, both for fixed and mobile. On the usage front, the availability of government services online, e-participation, as well as the proportion of knowledge-intensive jobs in the workforce, seem to be worthy of increased attention."
"GCC countries continue to perform well in the global ICT arena, with three countries in the global top 30," said Bahjat el-
Darwiche, partner at Strategy&.
"However, opportunity exists for the region to enhance its ICT competitiveness. Several countries have slipped in the last year with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt all regressing by up to four ranks in the last year."
In line with the digital inclusion emphasis of this year's GITR, a large digital divide in the Mena region exists with three countries € Algeria, Libya and Yemen. All three rank in the bottom quartile globally, while most of the GCC countries rank among the top quartile globally.
"Currently, Qatar ranks second in the region, having regressed four ranks in the last year, mainly on affordability and impact dimensions, while continuing to be strong in the ICT environment and Government usage and support for ICT, ranking fifth globally on the second dimension," said Milind Singh, principal at Strategy&.
Qatar's most significant strengths include government procurement of advanced tech, venture capital availability, mobile network coverage, households with personal computer, impact of ICTs on access to basic services, importance of ICTs to government vision, ICT use and government efficiency and quality of educational system.
Its most significant weakness includes Internet and telephony competition (126), fixed broadband Internet tariffs (123) and number of procedures to enforce a contract (118).
"ICTs hold the potential of transforming economies and societies. They can help address some of the most pressing issues of our time and support inclusive growth. Qatar's government has a robust vision to develop ICTs as a key pillar to diversify the local economy. Growing inequalities are threatening the power of ICT to be a global engine for inclusive growth.
The Mena region is a perfect illustration of this phenomenon, where the continued progress made by GCC countries is in stark contrast with the stagnation faced by Levant and North African countries," added Lanvin.
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