Networked Readiness Index

The Networked Readiness Index (NRI), developed by the World Economic Forum in the frame of Global Information Technology Report, which is considered as the most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of its kind, depicts the current stage of progress made in the world towards leveraging ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to boost productivity, economic growth, employment creation and, as a result, increasing the returns. The key to such leveraging is focusing on a value which ICT brings to the economy and society. Rapid development of ICT, or, in other words, digitization, along with opportunities it creates for business is also distracting in some measure as it presents puzzling range of potential opportunities, all of which seem attractive. That is why it is keenly important to prudently and rigorously select opportunities of digitization in order to extract from them maximum value. One more crucial thing which is needed to be done to achieve this goal is to bridge the digital divide - the divide between countries that are achieving positive economic and social impacts related to the use of ICTs and those that are not. All these issues have defined multifaceted nature of the Networked Readiness Index: it embraces 4 dimensions of ICT - environment (political, regulatory and business environment), ICT readiness (infrastructure, affordability and skills), ICT usage (by individuals, business and government) as well as impact of ICT (both economic and social). Such comprehensive nature on index, along with its broad geographical coverage (148 countries accounting for 98% of world GDP) makes it useful instrument which provides policymakers, business leaders, and concerned citizens with valuable insights into current market conditions and the state of connectivity across the world.

Source: Networked Readiness Index (NRI), 2014