According to the World Economic Forum, Finland is the first in the 2013 Network Readiness Index (NRI), followed by Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.
The NRI measures the capacity of different economies to leverage ICT for growth and well-being. Finland was third last year.
Covering 144 economies, the report remains one of the most comprehensive and authoritative assessments of the impact of ICT on competitiveness of nations and the well-being of their citizens.
The index assesses the preparedness of an economy to fully leverage ICT in terms of ICT infrastructure, cost of access and the presence of the necessary skills to ensure an optimal use.
Uptake and use of ICT among governments, business and individuals is considered along with the business and innovation environment, and the political and regulatory framework. Also taken into account are the economic and social impacts accruing from ICT.
Human resources and finance are the strengths of Finland
The NRI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources and the results of the Executive Opinion Survey of more than 15,000 executives.
Meanwhile, Finland is one of the EU’s innovation leaders along with Sweden, Germany and Denmark, according to the 2013 list published by the European Commission.
Finland’s strengths lie in human resources, finance and support, says the report.
Export of knowledge-intensive services and licence and patent revenues from abroad are growing noticeably in Finland. Growth for knowledge-intensive service exports was the highest in the EU.
Finland’s growth performance in intellectual assets and innovators was well above the average EU level.
