AMMAN -- Jordan ranked 47th in this year's Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which measures the preparedness of an economy to use ICT to boost competitiveness and well-being, maintaining last year's place.
The Kingdom ranked sixth among Arab states and was preceded by Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman respectively, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Information Technology Report 2013: Growth and Jobs in a Hyperconnected World, released recently.
Jordan was ahead of Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Yemen.
According to the NRI, which covered 144 countries, international bandwidth capacity and ICT infrastructure remain a challenge in the Kingdom.
The report added that despite the efforts to liberalise the market and render access to the existing infrastructure affordable, ICT uptake by individuals in Jordan remains low, especially in terms of broadband subscriptions.
Internet subscription in the Kingdom reached 17 per cent by the end of 2012 with 992,740 subscribers. Of the total, 691,619 were mobile broadband subscribers, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager of the Arab Advisers Group, criticised the report, noting that Jordan has relatively better infrastructure compared to the region and a variety of international bandwidth access.
"There are different technologies providing Internet services in Jordan including fibre networks, Third Generation and ADSL... in addition, there is an ample supply of international bandwidth capacity at competitive rates," Abbassi told The Jordan Times over the phone Sunday.
He noted that the Kingdom has a variety of international routes to the Internet so when there are disruptions in the region it is among the least affected countries.
Abbassi added that the country's ICT infrastructure is "excellent" according to regional and global standards.
The Kingdom ranked 81st in infrastructure and digital content compared to 79th in last year's NRI.
The NRI, calculated by WEF and INSEAD, ranked the economies based on their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age.
It showed that digitisation has a measurable effect on economic growth and job creation, noting that a comprehensive digital boost in emerging markets could help lift over half-a-billion people out of poverty over the next decade.
This capacity is determined by the quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments, the degree of preparedness, the actual usage of ICT, as well as the societal and economic impacts of ICT.
The assessment is based on a broad range of indicators, ranging from Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the availability of venture capital.
In addition, indicators such as patent applications and e-government services gauge the social and economic impact of digitisation, according to the NRI.
The first three countries in this year's index were Finland, Singapore and Sweden respectively.
2013 Networked Readiness Index
Among 144 countries, Jordan was ranked:
- 47th in the overall index
- 6th among Arab states
- 81st in ICT infrastructure and digital content
- 27th in ICT affordability
- 34th in ICT skills
- 37th in availability of the latest technologies
- 51st in mobile network coverage rates
- 71st in having secure Internet servers
- 37th in ICT use and government efficiency
Source: Global Information Technology Report 2013
© Jordan Times 2013
