New Report from the World
Economic Forum
The Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005
from the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that Singapore
topped the networked-readiness list overall, thanks to widespread
government initiatives to foster ICT use and the quality of its
education system.
The United States after three years at the
top of the poll, dropped to fifth place this year. The US still
scored highly for its research institutions and business schools
but other countries had caught up with its widespread penetration
of new technologies.
Great Britain has risen to twelfth place in
the world in terms of “networked readiness”, a
measure of how well countries are exploiting developments in
information and communications technology (ICT). Last year
Britain came fifteenth.
Other righ ranking countries were in
Scandinavia. Iceland, the remotest country in Europe, came
second, followed by Finland, Denmark and Sweden in third, fourth
and sixth place respectively. A climate of innovation is very
much part of the business environment in the Nordic is evident in
their culture.
It was not a surprise that South Korea came
at the top of the list for broadband usage. There are more
broadband users in South Korea than in the whole of South
America.
The study monitored 104 countries in a
range of categories, marking their business environments, ICT
readiness and levels of usage. Chad came last in the study,
behind Nicaragua and Ethiopia. Among the major economies, Russia
notably underperformed, coming 62nd, virtually unchanged from the
previous year.
For more information on the The Global Competitiveness Report
you can visit the World Economic
Forum page for further details.
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The Digital Future
Project
“Ten Years, Ten Trends” highlights the major
findings in the Digital Future Project’s Study by the USC
Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, in Los Angeles,
California, of the Impact of the Internet on North Americans ten
years after electronic portals to the Worldwide Web were first
opened to millions of computer users.
Ten significant trends have emerged that vividly illustrate how
the Internet affects North America, according to findings from
the comprehensive year-to-year study of the impact of online
technology. The ten trends identified by the Digital Future study
are:
1. In North America, the Digital Divide Is closing, but is
not yet closed as new divides emerge.
Does the “digital divide” still exist? The Digital
Future Project found that about 75 percent of Americans can
access the Internet from some location – home, work,
school, libraries, and other locations. The fastest-growing
Internet user populations are groups that were once considered
the primary victims of the digital divide: Latinos, African
Americans, and older Americans. Now a new divide is here, the
divide between those who have broadband and those who use
traditional telephone modem access.
2. The Media habits of the Nation have changed, and continue
to change
For the past 50 years, Americans’ time at home has been
dominated by television. Increasingly over the last 10 years,
Internet users have “bought” their time to go online
from the time they previously spent watching television. And, the
more experience users have with the Internet, the less television
they watch.
3. The credibility of the Internet Is dropping
The credibility of information on the Internet was high among
users through the first three years of the Digital Future
Project, and that credibility remains generally high in Year
Four. The study shows that most users trust information on the
Web sites they visit regularly, and on pages created by
established media and the government. The information that users
don’t trust is on Web sites posted by individuals.
4. We have just begun to see the changes to come in buying
online
Several issues that affect online purchasing have changed
dramatically in the last four years. There is no question that
concerns about credit card security while buying online remain
extremely high. And, while concerns remain high, Internet users
are buying more frequently. In 2001, they bought online about 11
times each year; now they buy about 30 times per year. And, as
Internet use increases, buying online increases dramatically.
5. The “Geek-Nerd” perception of the Internet is
dead
Since the beginning of the Digital Future Project, its
studies found that going online did not put the social lives of
users at risk. The Internet has little or no impact on time spent
with family or friends, or on sleeping, exercising, or most other
personal activities (other than watching television). In fact,
the Digital Future Project continues to show that Internet users
are often more socially active than non-users, and are less
alienated from others. And because of e-mail and instant
messaging, the Internet has become a useful tool to build
relationships; Internet users communicate with others more, not
less.
6. Privacy and security concerns remain high, but levels are
changing
In all four studies by the Digital Future Project, Internet
users and non-users alike have expressed very high levels of
concern about privacy and security. They fear not only for their
personal security, but are also concerned about companies or
individuals tracking what they do online.
7. The Internet has become the number one source for
information for Internet users
The Internet has become the most important source of current
information for users – the primary place they go for
research, general information, hobbies, entertainment listings,
travel, health, and investments. The “always-on”
function of broadband has accelerated this importance. As
Internet experience increases, perceptions of the importance of
the Internet as an information source also increase.
8. The benefits and drawbacks of the Internet for children
are still coming into focus.
There is no question that the Internet opens a whole new world
to children. But it’s a world that is also strewn with
pitfalls. The issues involving children and the Internet are
extensive: Does the Internet help my children with their
schoolwork? (Children say yes.) But, does the Internet improve
grades? (Adults say no.)
9. E-mail: “E-Nuff” Already?
E-mail is still the single most important reason people go
online. E-mail is a tremendous convenience, and for most users,
it is a free service with enormous benefits. E-mail opens
opportunities to communicate more often and with a much broader
circle of people than we ever reach by telephone or by mail.
10. Broadband will change everything again
Just as the arrival of the Internet created a flood of
social change, the proliferation of broadband technology as a
method of accessing the Internet is beginning to cause its own
revolution. Broadband is changing entirely our relationship with
the Internet at home – how often we go online, how long we
stay online, and what we do online. Simply, modem use is
disruptive; broadband use is integrative. The ‘always
on’ feature of broadband will have significant effects on
Internet use.
For reading the complete 105 page study (pdf), here is
the download link.
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Monthly Prize for IWS
Subscribers
Good news for all subscribers. During 2005
we will have a monthly drawing among all the active subscribers
to our newsletter and the prize for the winner will be a free
gmail account. As you well know, gmail is Google's email
service with an incredible huge 1,000 MB storage box capacity and
a very practical search feature included. Gmail accounts are
difficult to obtain. Only by special invitation.
To start this new monthly prize drawing, on this occasion we
will give out three gmail accounts: one for January, one
for February and one for March. All you have to do to participate
in the drawing is to have a confirmed and active opt-in
subscription to IWS NEWS. The drawing will take place on
March 31, 2005 in the morning at our office. On that same date we
will notify the three lucky winners.
To qualify and to participate in the drawing, please confirm
your subscription by sending an email with your name and address,
by clicking on the following link and then send. Remember the subscription is
absolutely free, and we promise to keep your address private.
Hurry and confirm your subscription today, don't loose the
opportunity to get a free gmail account in the drawing. click confirmation
link(Note: if the link does not
work, manually send email to " newsletter@internetworldstats.com
").
Good luck to all and tell your friends to subscribe to the IWS
Newsletter. See you next edition with more Internet news!
Take care,
Ricky, the Editor
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