The global information technology report 2015:

The world’s developing and emerging economies are failing to fully exploit the potential of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to drive social and economic transformation and catch up with more advanced nations, according to the Global Information Technology Report 2015, co-published today by the World Economic Forum, INSEAD and Cornell University, with the support of Strategy&, formerly Booz & Company and CISCO.

Data from the report’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which benchmarks 143 economies in terms of their capacity to prepare for, use and leverage ICTs, suggest that the gap between the best and worst performing economies is widening. Those in the top 10% have seen twice the level of improvement since 2012 as those in the bottom 10%. This demonstrates the scale of the challenge facing developing and emerging nations as they seek to develop the infrastructure, institutions and skills needed to reap the full benefits of ICTs, as only 39% of the global population enjoys access to the internet despite the fact that more than half now owns a mobile phone.

2015 Network Readiness Index ranks three GCC countries in the top 30 list globally for the third consecutive year, and another two in top 50: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman, ranked at 23rd, 27th, 30th, 35th and 42nd respectively, demonstrating that they continue to embrace ICT to boost their country’s competitiveness. In contrast, countries in the Levant and North Africa still lag behind and face challenges to fully leverage ICT. Morocco ranked (78), Egypt (94), Lebanon (99) and Algeria (120).

“The NRI of Bahrain remains practically unchanged in this year’s GITR (29th in 2014 vs 30th in 2015). Yet, a closer look at pillar performance levels shows that the negative impact of lower affordability (Bahrain lost 41 ranks worldwide on that pillar — from 25th to 66th) has been largely compensated by a significant improvement (17 ranks, from 58th to 41st) on the ‘skills’ front. Progress in adult literacy rates, and scientific education are bearing fruit,” said Bruno Lanvin, co—editor of the report, Executive Director, Global Indices, INSEAD.

“GCC countries continue to perform well in the global ICT arena, with three countries in the global top 30” said Bahjat El Darwiche , Partner at Strategy&, and leader of the firm’s Communication, Media, and Technology practice in the Middle-East. “However, opportunity exists for the region to enhance its ICT competitiveness. Several countries have slipped in the last year with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt all regressing by up to four ranks in the last year.”

In line with the digital inclusion emphasis of this year’s GITR, a large digital divide in the MENA region exists with three countries – Algeria, Libya and Yemen. All three rank in the bottom quartile globally, while most of the GCC countries rank among the top quartile globally.

Currently, Bahrain is ranked 30th globally and behind UAE & Qatar in the region. “Bahrain continues to rank favorably on government and individual usage sub-pillars of ICT (rank 4th and 14th respectively). The affordability sub-pillar, which assess the cost of accessing ICT and the level of competition in the Internet and telephony sectors, represents UAE’s most significant weakness with a 66th place ranking”, said Milind Singh, Principal with Strategy&, formerly Booz & Company. “Overall, Bahrain has relatively maintained its global rankings, holding the same rank across four of the ten sub-pillars and exhibiting marginal improvements in four other pillars — highlighting a stable, but not improving ICT readiness”.

The Networked Readiness Index 2015 (Overall World ranking)

Bahrain’s most significant strengths include Mobile network coverage (1), Mobile broadband subscription (5), Use of virtual social networks (6), Government Online Service (7), Households with personal computer (7) and Individuals using Internet (8). Its most significant weakness include Number of procedures to enforce a contract (136), Fixed broadband internet tariffs (98), Number of days to enforce a contract (98) and Number of procedures to start a business (78).

“ICTs hold the potential of transforming economies and societies. They can help address some of the most pressing issues of our time and support inclusive growth. The UAE government has a robust vision to develop ICTs as a key pillar to diversify the local economy. Growing inequalities are threatening the power of ICT to be a global engine for inclusive growth. The MENA region is a perfect illustration of this phenomenon, where the continued progress made by GCC countries is in stark contrast with the stagnation faced by Levant and North African countries”, added Lanvin.

Country Profile

2015

Bahrain

Under the theme ICTs for Inclusive Growth, The Global Information Technology Report 2015 also features 10 essays from leading experts and practitioners that showcase solutions to allow everyone to benefit from and participate in the ICT revolution.

The report is the result of a partnership between the World Economic Forum, INSEAD and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. It benefits from the valuable support of Cisco and Strategy&.

The editors of the report are Soumitra Dutta, Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean and Professor of Management; Samuel Curtis, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University; Thierry Geiger, Senior Economist, World Economic Forum; and Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director, Global Indices, INSEAD.

About the Networked Readiness Index 
Since 2001, the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) assesses on an annual basis the factors, policies and institutions that enable a country to leverage information and communication technologies (ICTs) for shared prosperity. This assessment is based on an aggregation of 53 individual indicators grouped in four main components: environment, readiness, usage and impacts. The individual indicators use a combination of data from publicly available sources and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a global survey of 13,000 business executives conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with its network of 160 Partner Institutes. 

Notes to Editors 
Read the full report here: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_IT_Report_2015.pdf
Access infographics, analysis, heatmap and more: http://wef.ch/gitr15 
View the best Forum Flickr photos at http://wef.ch/pix 
Follow the Forum on Twitter at http://wef.ch/twitter 
Read ForumAgenda at https://agenda.weforum.org/ 
View upcoming Forum events at http://wef.ch/events 
Subscribe to Forum news releases at http://wef.ch/news

The World Economic Forum is an international institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship.
It engages with business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.