An (e-readiness) tale of two countries

When I was working for IBM, managing the Global Centre for Economic Development Research within the IBM Institute for Business Value, one of my favourite annually recurring projects the joint production of the e-Readiness Rankings report with the Economist Intelligence Unit. In this annual study we examined seventy countries in terms of their level of e-readiness, i.e. their ability to leverage information and communications technology to the benefit of their economy. Based on both quantitative and qualitative data looking at several aspects of e-readiness, including technical as well as legal, socio-cultural, business and policy and usage criteria, the countries were then ranked in terms of their e-readiness.

In the most recent editions of this annual report, Ireland and Germany tended to end up in similar position, for example, in 2010, Ireland was ranked 17 and Germany was ranked 18, both countries effectively swapping their respective 2009 ranks.

My own reaction Ireland’s and Germany’s e-readiness rank has always been a mix of disappointment and surprise:

Firstly, disappointment that these two countries did not do better: With Germany being a large, mature and technologically advanced economy and Ireland being a small, agile country with a young well educated population and an openness and commitment to information technology; it seemed both countries could and should have done better.

Secondly, surprise that two economies and countries so different tended to end up in similar ranks.

Below you can see the top 21 countries for e-readiness in 2010. No 2011 e-readiness report has been published yet ... I wonder what the rankings would have looked like this year ...