Latin America 'lagging' in ICT use

 

 

 

 

 

Barbados is the region's top performer because of "its ICT-conducive environment, especially the regulatory and infrastructure components, coupled with very high levels of individual usage," Irene Mia, co-editor of the report, told SciDev.Net.

 

Mexico fell eleven places from last year, its main weaknesses being overregulated markets and low ICT penetration rates, said Mia.

Néstor Bercovich, coordinator for the Information Society Programme of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, told SciDev.Net that all of the countries in the region need to do more regarding the spread and use of ICTs, especially broadband.

Of the developing nations, China, India and Vietnam have progressed the most in the rankings, with China and India jumping 9 and 11 places in a year respectively, to positions 37 and 43. Most Sub-Saharan African countries "trail behind the rest of the world in networked readiness" with only Mauritius (53) and South Africa (62) in the top half.

The report said that although ICTs performance is broadly correlated with income levels, there are exceptions, such as China, Gambia, Malaysia and Tunisia, that all rank higher than richer countries in their income-level group. 

The report was released last month (25 March).

Link to full 2009–10 report