e-Readiness: Nigeria ranks 94

Nigeria has been rated the 94th networked readiness nation otherwise known as e-readiness in the 2007-2008 Global Information Technology Report (GITR) sponsored this year by Cisco Systems as a series of joint project between the World Economic Forum and INSEAD.

First launched in 2001, GITR has become a valuable and unique benchmarking tool to determine national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strengths and weaknesses, as well as to evaluate progress, just as it also highlights the continuing importance of ICT application and development for economic growth.

The latest GITR framework indicated that a total of 127 economies in 2007-2008, were measured using the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), based on the degree of preparation of a nation to participate in and benefit from ICT developments.

According to the report, NRI is composed of three component indexes which assess the environment for ICT offered by a given country; the readiness of the economy’s key stakeholders - individuals, business and governments; and the usage of ICT among these stakeholders.

The report which ranked Nigeria 94th with 3.32 score points, also rated South Africa, 51, Mauritius 54, Egypt 63, Sri Lanka 79, Senegal 85, Algeria 88, Kenya 92, Namibia 93, while the likes of Mali was rated 99, Tanzania 100, the Gambia 101, Burkina Faso 103, and Uganda ranked 109.

However, the report named its top 10 led by Denmark with 5.78 points followed by Sweden 5.72, Switzerland 5.53, United States 5.49, Singapore 5.49, Finland 5.47, Netherlands 5.44, Iceland 5.44, Korea 5.43 and Norway 5.38.

Remarkably the top 10 have retained their positions since 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.
Senior Economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the World Economic Forum and co-editor of the Report, Ms Irene Mia, stated that the successful experience of the Nordic countries, Singapore, the United States or Korea showed in the report that a coherent government vision on the importance of ICT is being optimized, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation.

“These are key not only for spurring networked readiness, but also to lay the foundations for sustainable growth,” Mia said.

Published for the seventh consecutive year with record coverage of 127 economies worldwide, the report has been acclaimed as the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

According to the editors of the report, under the theme ‘Fostering Innovation through Networked Readiness,’ this year’s report placed a particular focus on the role of networked readiness in stimulating innovation through topics covered in the analytical chapters.

Equally the Networked Readiness Index, featured in the report, examined how prepared countries were in using ICT effectively on three dimensions, namely the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; whereas the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups covered included individuals, businesses and governments ability to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available.

The NRI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey (EOS), a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum with its network of partner institutes made up of leading research institutes and business organizations in the countries integrated in the report. The survey provides unique data on many qualitative institutional and business environment issues.

This cross-country analysis of the drivers of networked readiness provides useful comparative information for making business decisions and additional value to governments wishing to improve their ICT preparedness.


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