Digital Evolution

South Korea ranked seventh on the list of a digital economy ranking.
South Korea ranked seventh on the list of a digital economy ranking.

 

According to U.S.-based Bloomberg News on July 13 (local time), South Korea ranked seventh on the list of a digital economy ranking conducted by researchers at Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard Inc.

The Digital Evolution Index scores the level of support in the digital sector provided by governments and institutions, the pace of innovation, the mobile broadband penetration, intellectual property laws and information provided by Mastercard. It also quantifies the interplay between demand and supply within the digital economy.

In the study, several Nordic countries ranked among the top 10. Norway is the world’s most advanced digital economy, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, South Korea, the U.K., Hong Kong and the U.S. Singapore, the world’s sixth, is the most advanced digital economy in Asia, followed by South Korea (7th), Hong Kong (9th), and Australia (11th). Japan ranked 15th on the list.

The U.S. barely made the top 10 largely due to lack of investment in digital infrastructure. Americans who live in rural areas are still out of the reliable broadband coverage, failing to gain benefit from the Internet. The White House has pledged to make a US$2.5 billion (28.43 trillion won) investment in the next decade so that more Americans can use the Internet. However, it still remains to be seen whether such efforts come to fruition, according to Bloomberg.

Nordic countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, stood out in the study, boosted by their government’s policy support. Norway and Finland are the first to make broadband access a legal right, and such support is partly why they are at the top of the digital scoreboard.

Meanwhile, China is the fastest digitizing developing country, followed by Malaysia, Bolivia, Kenya, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates. Among ASEAN member countries, the Philippines (11th) and Indonesia (14th) are also among the top 15 list. 

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