Oman among most dynamic countries for ICT progress: ITU

1/10/2016 12:52:54 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

Oman is among the most dynamic countries worldwide for change in ICT Development Index (IDI) value and ranking from 2010 to 2015 a study released recently by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has said.

Measuring the Information Society Report 2015' shows that according to IDI of last year Oman has shown great progress: Its ranking jumped from 68 in 2010 to 54 in 2015 (out of 167 countries). The actual IDI value jumped from 4.41 in 2010 to 6.33 in 2015. As a result Oman is considered among the 'most dynamic countries' worldwide placed 11th in changing the IDI value and ranking from 2010 to 2015.

On the regional level Oman has the sixth highest IDI value among the Arab state countries. Bahrain has made the biggest change in Arab country rankings by jumping 21 places to 27 while UAE has jumped 17 places to 32 Saudi Arabia jumped 15 places to 41. Qatar jumped six places to rank 31 while Kuwait was the only one that fell one place to 46 from 45 earlier. The report identifies a group of 'most dynamic countries' which have recorded above-average improvements in their IDI rank over the past five years.

These include (in order of greatest change in IDI ranking): Costa Rica Bahrain Lebanon Ghana Thailand UAE Saudi Arabia Suriname Kyrgyzstan Belarus and Oman. IDI is measured by three dimensionsICT access ICT use and ICT skills. In regard to ICT access there is a great progress in Oman as the sultanate's ranking jumped from 68 in 2010 to 47 in 2015. As a result Oman is considered the 'second most dynamic country' worldwide as it was successful in changing the 'Access' sub-index between 2010 and 2015.

Globally Korea is ranked top in 2015 rankings followed by Denmark Iceland UK and Sweden. Brahima Sanou director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau which produces the report every year said that ITU's work in gathering and publishing statistics allows it to monitor the real progress being made in ICT development worldwide. 'Progress is encouraging in many areas but more needs to be done - especially in the world's poorest and remotest regions where ICTs can arguably make the biggest difference and help bring people everywhere out of extreme poverty' he said.

The report is being published annually since 2009 and it features key ICT data and benchmarking tools to measure the information society including the IDI. IDI 2015 captures the level of ICT developments in 167 economies and compares progress made since 2010. It also assesses IDI findings at the regional level and highlights countries that rank at the top of the index and those that have improved their position in the overall rankings most dynamically since 2010.

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