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According to latest report released today by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the most advanced countries in information and communication technologies (ICT) are from Northern Europe. The exception is the Republic of Korea. Sweden tops the new ITU ICT Development Index, followed by the Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway. They are followed by other, mainly high-income countries from Europe, Asia and North America. Western and Northern Europe and North America are the regions with the highest IDI scores, and most countries from these regions are among the top twenty ICT economies. Poor countries, in particular the least developed countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and broadband.

Countries with low ICT levels (and hence low Index ranks) are primarily from the developing world. Given the close relationship between ICT level and GDP, many of the poorer countries, in particular from Africa, rank further down in the index, with little change in ranking since 2002.

Read full story: ITU News

Related topics: Broadband, Internet Governance, Telecom