In 2010 the study is being renamed as the "digital economy rankings", to reflect the increasing influence of ICT in economic (and social) progress.
The digital economy rankings assess the quality of a country's ICT infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit. When a country uses ICT to conduct more of its activities, the economy can become more transparent and efficient.
Our ranking allows governments to gauge the success of their technology initiatives against those of other countries. It also provides companies that wish to invest or trade internationally with an overview of the world's most promising business locations from an ICT perspective.
The report benchmarks 70 countries on 'e-readiness' - the ability to convert digital opportunities for the social and economic development - and assesses the quality of a country's ICT infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit.
The top performers in the 2010 digital economy rankings — led this year by Sweden (1st), which dislodged the perennial e-readiness leader.
Denmark (2nd), by a narrow margin—demonstrate a high degree of connectivity and score well on all fronts, from the quality of their business and legal environments to social and cultural drivers of digital progress, the existence of sound public policy on ICT, and the levels at which consumers and businesses actually use digital services.
This underscores our long-standing premise that progress towards a fully digital economy requires concerted action across all the areas addressed in the rankings.
A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in association with the IBM Institute for Business Value – Down load the Report
Digital Economy Rankings 2010 Tony Harkén