Taiwan ranked 11th out of 63 major economies in the latest World Digital Competitiveness Ranking released Wednesday by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), a fall of three places from last year.
The rankings are based on 54 criteria under three major categories: knowledge, technology, and future readiness.
The biggest drop occurred in the technology category, which saw Taiwan’s ranking drop from 2nd to 6th, with investment in telecommunications, where the nation ranked 57th, identified as an “overall top weakness.”
However, Taiwan continued its strong showing in “IT & media stock market capitalization” and “mobile broadband subscribers,” ranking 1st in both areas as it did last year.
The nation came 2nd in “use of big data and analytics,” classified under future readiness, up two places compared to last year’s results and designated an “overall top strength.”
Under future readiness, Taiwan also ranked 3rd in terms of “agility of companies.”
Overall, Taiwan placed 8th in the future readiness category, down one place from last year.
In terms of knowledge, the nation ranked 1st in “total R&D personnel per capita” and 3rd in “higher education achievement” and “total expenditure on R&D” in relation to other areas of government spending.
However, overall, Taiwan ranked 18th in knowledge, the lowest among the three major categories, with “total public expenditure on education,” (52nd) “female researchers,” (52nd) “pupil-teacher ratio in tertiary education,” (50th) and “scientific and technical employment” (45th) all identified as “overall top weaknesses.”
The Ministry of Digital Affairs said in a press release that the strengths and weaknesses identified in the rankings will serve as a reference for its policymaking going forward as it looks to help Taiwan achieve digital transformation and boost its digital capabilities.
Digital Minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said during an interview at the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum in Taipei on Wednesday that the ranking provided valuable input for policymaking, especially in those areas where private-public cooperation can be strengthened.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel