India slips to 91st place on readiness for digitised economy

India has slipped two places to 91st position on a global list of countries in terms of their readiness for transition to a digitised economy and society, while Singapore remains on top. Among the major emerging markets, India is ranked the lowest with Russia retaining the top place at 41st rank, followed by China at 59th (up three places), South Africa up 10 places at 65th and Brazil moving up to 72nd

position.The annual Networked Readiness Index released on Wednesday by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) is once again topped by Singapore while Finland has also retained its second place.Others in the top 10 are Sweden, Norway, the US, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, Luxembourg and Japan.

The index, forming part of the WEF’s Global Information Technology Report, measures countries’ success in creating the conditions necessary for a transition to a digitised economy and society.

India’s position on the list has come down for the fourth year in a row, from 89th in 2015, 83rd in 2014 and 68th in 2013.

While the country has scored better in terms of political and regulatory environment (78th position), it fares worse in terms of business and innovation environment (110th).

In terms of infrastructure it is even worse at 114th place, while it is ranked very high at 8th place in terms of affordability. India also fares poorly on sub-indices for skills and individual usage.

“Lack of infrastructure (114th) and low levels of skills among the population (101st) remain the key bottlenecks to widespread ICT adoption, especially in terms of individual usage (120th),” the WEF said.

The report further noted that a third of the Indian population is still illiterate and a similar share of youth is not enrolled in secondary education.

“Only 15 out of 100 households have access to the Internet and mobile broadband remains a privilege of the few, with only 5.5 subscriptions for every 100 people,” it said but added that a divide persisted between well-connected metropolitan hubs and remote rural areas.

In 2015, India launched the Digital India programme, which aims to close this gap by fostering investment in digital infrastructure, improving digital literacy, and increasingly providing online services to citizens.

India’s performance in terms of providing online services and allowing e-participation has so far been in line with that of peer countries, but far from the global best (57th and 40th, respectively).