UAE- New report from INSEAD, WEF 

(MENAFN - Arab News) INSEAD, a major international business school, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have released the 11th annual 2012 Global Information Technology Report.

The report examines the networked readiness of 142 developed and developing countries worldwide - accounting for over 98 percent of the world's GDP. The index measures the correlation between how these markets leverage advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) to drive economic productivity and social development.

In this year's Networked Readiness Index ranking (NRI), four Nordic countries are the most successful at leveraging ICT in their competitiveness strategies with Sweden topping the list at number one. Singapore is in the second position, and the rest of the top ten are Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

"Over the past 10 years, the information and communication technology industry has changed dramatically and its effects are increasingly transforming our economies and societies", said Soumitra Dutta, Roland Berger professor of business and technology at INSEAD, co-editor of the report.

"Echoing the rapid changes and consequences of living in a hyperconnected world, the framework we use to monitor, measure, and benchmark the deployment and impacts of ICT has evolved, we have introduced a new set of metrics that assess not only the availability of technology, but also the ways in which economies put that technology to greater use to improve business innovation, governance, citizens' political participation and social cohesion. This year's report offers an enhanced view of how technology is incorporated into the fabric of each country," Dutta said.