Sweden has once again secured the top position in the UN’s Global Information and Communication Technology Development Index for the period from 2002 to 2007, while Croatia has slipped one place, now ranking 43rd in the global ranking of ICT development.
The UN’s Information and Communication Technology Development Index (IDI) compares the situation in 154 countries over the period from 2002 to 2007, based on indicators such as the number of computer-equipped households, the number of internet users, and the level of computer literacy."The report shows that the global digital divide has largely remained unchanged from 2002 to 2007," emphasized the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) upon the report’s release. "Despite significant progress in developing countries, the gap between countries with high levels of ICT and those where it is still in its infancy has remained the same." The ITU highlights Northern Europe, led by Sweden, as an advanced region in the field of information and communication technologies, which has ranked first in both 2002 and 2007, but notes that South Korea has emerged this year, climbing from third to second place in the global ranking, closely followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway.
High-income countries in Europe, Asia, and North America are all well positioned, with those from Western and Northern Europe, as well as North America, among the top 20. Developing countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, and Vietnam have made progress in the last five years, partly due to the strong expansion of mobile telephony combined with the growth in the number of internet users. Croatia is ranked 43rd in the 2007 list, slipping one place from its position in 2002.
