Korea Ranked as Top 10 Networked Economy

Korea is the world’s ninth most networked economy according to the Networked Readiness Index, which measures how a nation has used information and communication technology for economic growth and national competitiveness.

The Global Information Technology Report released Wednesday by the World Economic Forum and French business school INSEAD also said Korea made the biggest progress among 127 economies surveyed.

The country ranked 14th in 2003, 24th in 2004, 14th in 2005 and 19th in 2006. Last year was the first time for the country to break the top ten.

In Asia, Korea kept its lead over Taiwan (13th) and Japan (14th), but trailed Singapore (fifth).

The report said Korea is abundant in highly educated people and top talent, and that well-educated people have been supported by technology and business.

By sector, Korea ranked third in readiness to use information and communication technology, fourth in real usage and 17th in market environment, regulation and infrastructure.

The report also cited challenges faced by Korea. By sector, the country ranked 74th in difficulty in setting up a business, 51st in Internet server security, 46th in level of complication in the contract process, 36th in the time required to set up a business, 32nd in financial market system and 30th in the effectiveness of the tax system.

Korea, however, has shown considerable progress in certain sectors, the report added. The country’s ranking in difficulty in setting up a business had been 89th and tax system effectiveness 71st last year.

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