A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of the Indicators in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI)

Abstract

World Economic Forum publishes the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) annually, to reflect the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) status of different countries. The NRI is developed by aggregating 53 indicators. The study identifies the most critical indicators to focus on, to improve the NRI status of countries at different stages of economic development. It uses data from 117 countries and analyzes the changes in the indicators along with their impacts between the years 2012 and 2016. The study explores the differences between countries by grouping them into four groups based on their NRI status. The analysis identifies six indicators with a significant impact. Low income (low -NRI) countries achieved a multi-fold increase in the use of the internet and cellular-related applications. However, the NRI for low-income countries increased by less than 5%. Contrary to the popular perception, use of cellular applications and internet use have no significant impact on the NRI. The education-related indicators were abysmally low for the low-NRI countries. In fact, the digital divide between the developed and under-developed countries had widened during the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]