Croatia has climbed four places since last year, and is now ranked 44th in the 2018 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, a list ranking 63 global economies according to their adoption of digital technology, Croatia's National Competitiveness Council (NVK) reported on Tuesday.
The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, compiled by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) based in Lausanne, has since 1989 published annual analyses and rankings of countries according to their competencies in adopting digital technology and efforts to apply it in public services, businesses, and generally in the society at large.
The analyses are based on three benchmarks: digital know-how, digital technology, and readiness for the future. Each of these three factors are further divided into three sub-factors, consisting of 50 criteria in all.
“The United States this year returned to the top spot, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The Netherlands moved one place to 4th, swapping positions with Switzerland which slid down to 5th,” IMD said in a press release.
The following Central and Eastern European countries ranked higher than Croatia – Czech Republic (33th), Slovenia (34th) Poland (36th) and Bulgaria (43th). On the other hand, Hungary (46th), Romania (47th), and Slovakia (50th) lagged behind Croatia.
“We are finally seeing an improvement in Croatia’s position in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. That is the result of the positive steps the government has taken in affirming information technology in the public sector and in education, and further steps taken in implementing public e-services,” the head of NVK, Ivica Mudrinic, said.
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an industry that impacts and enables growth in terms of competitiveness of the economy and in all other industries, including the public sector, and a stronger application of ICT could enable faster development and prosperity for Croatia, he added.
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