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In response to the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
goals, the
World Information Society
Report 2006 tracks the changing dynamics
driving the Information Society worldwide, with a
new tool—the Digital Opportunity Index
(DOI)—that evaluates the
opportunity, infrastructure and utilization of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
for 180 economies worldwide.
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The DOI has been developed by a
multi-stakeholder partnership, the
Digital
Opportunity Platform,
comprising ITU, UNCTAD and KADO (the
Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and
Promotion) and which is open to other
partners. It will be reported annually
in order to track progress in reaching
the WSIS targets, and building a diverse
and inclusive Information Society, by
2015. |
In line
with earlier studies, DOI results are closely
related to income. Countries differ widely, with a
considerable digital divide between the
highest-achieving economy (Republic of Korea) and
the economies rated last. Results are geographically
mixed, with both European and Asian countries
appearing in the top ten, while Asian and African
countries feature among the lowest ten.
In low-income countries, digital opportunity derives
from access to cellular service and affordable
telecoms, whilst high-income countries are realizing
their digital opportunities in good infrastructure
and the use of advanced technologies.
The DOI illustrates the strong lead taken by Europe
and North America in realizing digital opportunity.
Latin America and Central Asia are catching up fast
with large infrastructural investments and strong
gains in mobile and Internet subscribers, including
3G mobile technologies (CDMA 2000 1x and W-CDMA).
Two Asian countries top the rankings – the Republic
of Korea and Japan - followed by Denmark and
Iceland. Chile leads in Latin America, whilst
Morocco leads in Africa.
Source:
World Information Society Report 2006 |
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Looking at the sub-categories composing the doi, the one
with the highest average value is
Opportunity.
This category measures basic access (reflected by mobile
coverage) and affordability of networks. Many countries have
widespread coverage of mobile networks (though not
necessarily corresponding high levels of penetration). In
the group of sample countries, affordability is not a major
bottleneck for most. Even if internet pricing is less
affordable, the prices of broadband services have decreased
with around 40% over the last three years, according to ITU
analysis.
The analysis based on the results of the Digital Opportunity
Index 2005 suggest that for most countries, policy should
now emphasize Infrastructure and Utilization.
In terms of the
Infrastructure
category, the average value is 0.23. Most developed
economies score over 0.5 but well below one. One reason is
that even in developed nations there are still “ICT have
nots”. Developing nations score far lower in this category,
given the relatively high cost of advanced ICT equipment
such as computers and Internet access and the fact that
public access, which is not captured in the index, often
plays a significant role.
The lowest
scores are recorded in the
Utilization
category. Less than a tenth of the economies in the sample
have half of their population online. While some developed
nations have high levels of fixed broadband, few countries
have corresponding high levels of mobile broadband. This is
likely to change with the recent uptake of 3G deployments.
The average category scores reflect a natural progression of
ICT evolution, from coverage and affordability, to
infrastructure and finally quality. While the world has
passed the first level, one might say it is less than
“half-way” there in terms of the second and still has far to
go to achieve the third.
For more analysis of the status of Digital Opportunity in
2005, you can consult the
World Information Society
Report 2006. |
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The Asian economies of the Republic of Korea and
Japan continue to lead in digital opportunity, due
to their pioneering take-up of broadband and 3G
mobile services. Asian Tigers and Nordic countries
are among the top ten economies, with a number of Western European countries
among the high teens. Central and Eastern European nations
featured among the low twenties. |
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Rank |
Economy |
Digital
Opportunity Index categories |
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Oppor-
tunity |
Infra-structure |
Use |
DOI |
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1 |
Korea (Rep.) |
0.99 |
0.74 |
0.64 |
0.79 |
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2 |
Japan |
0.99 |
0.69 |
0.46 |
0.71 |
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3 |
Denmark |
0.99 |
0.75 |
0.37 |
0.71 |
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4 |
Iceland |
0.99 |
0.72 |
0.37 |
0.69 |
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5 |
Hong Kong |
1.00 |
0.70 |
0.38 |
0.69 |
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6 |
Sweden |
0.99 |
0.74 |
0.35 |
0.69 |
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7 |
United Kingdom |
0.99 |
0.68 |
0.33 |
0.67 |
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8 |
Norway |
0.99 |
0.66 |
0.34 |
0.67 |
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9 |
Netherlands |
0.99 |
0.67 |
0.32 |
0.66 |
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10 |
Taiwan, China |
0.99 |
0.69 |
0.29 |
0.66 |
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11 |
Macao, China |
1.00 |
0.66 |
0.30 |
0.65 |
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12 |
Australia |
0.98 |
0.63 |
0.35 |
0.65 |
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13 |
Israel |
0.98 |
0.57 |
0.40 |
0.65 |
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14 |
Canada |
0.98 |
0.55 |
0.43 |
0.65 |
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15 |
Switzerland |
0.99 |
0.63 |
0.33 |
0.65 |
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16 |
Singapore |
1.00 |
0.68 |
0.27 |
0.65 |
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17 |
Finland |
0.99 |
0.60 |
0.34 |
0.64 |
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18 |
Luxembourg |
0.99 |
0.65 |
0.27 |
0.64 |
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19 |
Germany |
0.99 |
0.64 |
0.27 |
0.63 |
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20 |
Estonia |
0.98 |
0.47 |
0.44 |
0.63 |
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21 |
United States |
0.98 |
0.55 |
0.34 |
0.62 |
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22 |
Slovenia |
0.98 |
0.63 |
0.26 |
0.62 |
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23 |
Belgium |
0.99 |
0.50 |
0.38 |
0.62 |
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24 |
Austria |
0.99 |
0.54 |
0.34 |
0.62 |
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25 |
Spain |
0.99 |
0.54 |
0.30 |
0.61 |
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You can consult the
full DOI ranking of 180 economies
worldwide.
Note:
On a scale of 0 to 1 where 1 = highest value.
Economies with the same DOI value are ranked by
thousands of a decimal point. Source:
ITU/KADO Digital Bridges Project.
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Based on the
time series of the
Digital Opportunity
Index, covering the period 2001-2005 for 40 leading
economies, developments in digital opportunity can
be track.
Dramatic progress has been achieved by developing countries,
however, which made the greatest progress in digital
opportunity - notably India, where digital opportunity
nearly doubled between 2001 and 2005, and China, which
experienced remarkably strong gains in infrastructure.
Different countries are following their own paths in
telecommunication development, with some countries
leveraging their investments in infrastructure more
successfully than others.
Source:
World Information Society Report 2006 |
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Information Society
Trends |
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The
Digital Opportunity Index
monitors the mobile communications that promise to bridge
the digital divide in many parts of the world, as well as
more recent technologies such as broadband and mobile
internet access.
Broadband
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Nearly all internet subscribers in the Republic of
Korea are broadband subscribers, whilst Japan is the
only market where Internet subscribers are most
likely to access Internet over their mobile.
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Mobile
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The DOI registers a steady expansion un the number
of mobile internet subscribers. Most notably, the
DOI shows that mobile internet and 3G services are
no longer the preserve of high-income countries.
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