India ranks 91 in Networked Readiness Index 2016

India was placed at 91st position in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2016 that was released by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) on 6 July 2016. The index was released as the part of the WEF’s Global Information Technology Report 2016.It measures countries’ success in creating the necessary conditions for a transition to a digitised economy and society.

Highlights of the Networked Readiness Index 2016

• It finds seven countries are excelling when it comes to economically benefiting from investments in information and communications technologies

• Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, Singapore, the Netherlands and the US are leading the world when it comes to generating economic impact from investments in information and technology.

• Singapore leads the Index followed by Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United States.

• India (91st) was ranked the lowest among the BRICS countries- Russia (41st), China (59th), South Africa (65th) and Brazil (72nd). 

• The upper echelons of the NRI continue to reflect a strong correlation between networked readiness and per capita income, roughly 75% of the countries show a score improvement in 2016. 

• Convergence, at the global and regional level, remains elusive, with four regions – Eurasia, Emerging Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) group, and sub-Saharan Africa.

• Europe remains at the technology frontier; seven of the top 10 NRI countries are European.

• Several Eastern European countries, notably the Slovak Republic, Poland and the Czech Republic made big strides landing spots in the NRI top 50.

• The Eurasia region continues its upward trajectory, with the average NRI for the region increasing significantly since 2012.

• Malaysia leads the Emerging Asian economies in 2016 and moves up one spot to 31st position overall.

• The top five in the Asian region in terms of overall ICT readiness remain Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, China and Sri Lanka.

• The performance range by countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region remains widely dispersed with almost 100 places between Chile (38th) and Haiti (137th).

• The United Arab Emirates (26th) and Qatar (27th) continue to lead the Arab world in networked-readiness.

• The NRI also sees several sub-Saharan African countries among the top upward movers, including South Africa (65th), Ethiopia (120th) and Côte d’Ivoire (106th).

India's performance in the Networked Readiness Index 2016

• India’s position on the list has come down for the fourth consecutive year in a row in 2016 from 89th in 2015, 83rd in 2014 and 68th in 2013. 

• In different parameters of Index, India has scored better in terms of political and regulatory environment (78th position). 

• It ranked very high (8th) place in terms of affordability. 

• It scored worse in terms of business and innovation environment (110th). 

• In terms of infrastructure, it scored worse place at 114th position.