08 March 2010
BEIRUT: The International Telecommunication Union’s 2010 Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index in 159 countries ranked Lebanon in 82nd place worldwide and 9th among 19 Arab countries.
Lebanon also ranked in 26th place among 28 upper middle income countries (UMICs) included in the survey, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.
Lebanon ranked in 78th place globally, in 7th place regionally and in 25th place among UMICs in the previous survey. The index quantifies and tracks the digital divide among economies and measures a country’s progress toward becoming an information society. The index is a composite of three sub-indices that measure the level of access, usage and skills of ICT.
Lebanon received a score of 3.17 points, up by 5 percent from the previous survey and constituting the 14th highest growth rate among Arab countries. Its score came below the global average of 3.58 points and the UMICs’ average of 4.18 points, but above the Arab average of 3.11 points.
On a global basis, Lebanon ranked ahead of Albania, Iran and Tunisia and came behind Azerbaijan, Georgia and China. It also ranked ahead of South Africa and behind Libya among UMICs as well as ahead of Tunisia and behind Libya in the Arab world.
Lebanon was one of 47 countries with a ‘Medium’ level of ICT development. The rankings of seven Arab countries increased, nine regressed and three were unchanged; while the scores of all Arab countries improved year-on-year.
Lebanon ranked in 92nd place worldwide, in 25th place among UMICs and in 10th place in the Arab world on the ICT Access Sub-Index. This category measures the access to fixed telephone lines, mobile cellular subscriptions, international internet bandwidth users, the proportion of households with a computer and the proportion of households with Internet access at home.
Globally, it came the ahead of Paraguay and behind Tunisia, ranked ahead of South Africa and behind Mexico among UMICs and came ahead of Algeria and behind Tunisia in the region. Lebanon received a score of 3.20 points in this category, below the global average of 4.07 points, the UMICs’ average of 4.78 points and the Arab average of 3.75 points.
Lebanon ranked in 78th place worldwide, in 25th place among UMICs and in eight place in the Arab world on the ICT Use Sub-Index. This category reflects the internet users, the fixed broadband internet subscribers, and the mobile broadband subscribers. Globally, it ranked ahead of Jordan and behind Tunisia and came ahead of Oman and behind Libya among UMICs. Lebanon received a score of 1.03 points in this category, below the global average of 1.70 points, the UMICs’ average of 1.85 points and the Arab average of 1.11 points.
Lebanon ranked in 57th place globally, in 17th place among UMICs and in second place regionally on the ICT Skills Sub-Category. This category reflects the adult literacy rate, and the secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratios. It ranked ahead of Moldova and behind Armenia on a globally basis and ranked ahead of Jordan and behind Libya among Arab economies. Lebanon’s score in this category was 7.42 points, above the global average of 6.37 points, the UMIC’s 7.63 points and the Arab average of 5.82 points. – The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
