Trailing far behind in the information age

Notwithstanding the substantial progress made, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has a long way to go before it can hope to catch up with other nations of the world in the uptake of information and communication technology (ICT). In particular, Kuwait has to try hardest to improve its ranking on the Network Readiness Index (NRI).

The NRI is the cornerstone of the Global Information Technology Report, in turn produced by the World Economic Forum in partnership with INSEAD, a business school boasting campuses in France and Singapore and a centre in Abu Dhabi.

In reality, Kuwait was the only GCC state to see its ranking drop in the NRI for 2008-09.

The latest NRI survey ranks 134 economies, up by 7 countries compared to the previous report.

NRI figures are derived by taking into account 68 variables, 27 of which (or about 40 per cent) comprise hard data such as number of personal computers and internet penetration rates. The other variables are subjective in nature depending on views expressed by executives about business conditions in places where they reside.

Altogether, the variables are classified into three broad categories with market, political, regulatory and infrastructure environment defining the first, individual, business and government readiness for ICT making up the second, and individual, business and government usage of ICT in the third lot.

The UAE not only retained its top position vis-a-vis ICT adoption in the GCC and across all Arab countries but moved up several notches on the NRI. Now the UAE is placed 27th worldwide ahead of even European countries such as Portugal and Spain. The outstanding performance partly reflects the relatively low cost of owning cellphones for personal use - second lowest worldwide. Still, the government deserves credit for promoting an ICT culture in the country by making it an integral part of its vision for the future.

For its part, Qatar has the chance to further improve its NRI ranking, having leapfrogged four places in the latest survey to come in at number 29 globally.

Qatar's strengths include energy self-sufficiency and a certain level of math and science education. Focus on quality education partly reflects the government's success in attracting leading American universities to its Educational City project.

Bahrain, too, continues to improve its ranking, advancing 13 places in three years on the NRI, the best performance amongst GCC states. Not surprisingly, Bahrain's strengths include financial market sophistication. The financial services sector comprises nearly one-quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in real terms.

Saudi Arabia marked its inclusion on NRI for the second time by jumping four places to be placed 40 worldwide. Happily, the survey gives high marks to the country when it comes to spending on education, on which count it ranks amongst 10 countries globally. Educational expenditures account for 25 per cent of total funds allocated for development projects in Saudi Arabia's 2009 budget.

Like Saudi Arabia, Oman features on the NRI for the second time. The country jumped two places to be placed 50 worldwide. Oman's shortcomings include limited freedom of the press, thereby restricting open public discussions of challenges facing the nation.

In contrast to fellow GCC member states, Kuwait slipped five notches to 57 amongst 134 economies ranked on NRI. The report took note that Kuwaiti authorities do not regard ICT as a priority.

At any rate, all GCC countries perform poorly when it comes to the availability of scientists and engineers and the procedures required to enforce contracts.

GCC authorities have to an extent seized the opportunity to deliver more services electronically thanks to the internet revolution. Capable e-governments can also tide over bureaucratic hurdles.

- The writer is a member of parliament in Bahrain.