China overtakes India in technology use: Report

A new report by the World Economic Forum released Wednesday has revealed that India has a long way to go as far as the digital revolution is concerned. The study, which takes into account a broad range of measures to rank countries on the success of their overall efforts to use such Information Communication technologies (ICT) to improve business, government and the lives of individuals has ranked India a lowly 69, nearly 20 places behind China. [caption id=“attachment_267512” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India is still struggling to bridge the digital divide: Reuters”]  [/caption] Other Asian countries that were ranked higher than India were Mongolia, (63) and Taiwan(11). China was ranked highest in terms of the world’s rising economic powers — the so-called BRICS countries — at 51. It was followed by Russia at 56, Brazil at 65, India at 69 and South Africa at 72. “Despite all the efforts that we have seen in the past, the digital divide still exists between developing countries and developed countries,” said Benat Bilbao-Osorio, associate director of the World Economic Forum’s Center for Global Competitiveness and Performance who co-authored the report. “The digital divide can be observed as well at the regional level.” Co-author Soumitra Dutta, a business and technology professor at INSEAD, one of the world’s largest graduate schools of business with campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, told a news conference while launching the report, that the world is becoming “hyperconnected” and it’s important to measure how much technology is impacting government, business and individuals. “The big story is how India is falling behind in relative terms as far as its overall measure of technology and competitiveness is concerned,” INSEAD’s Dutta said. “A few years ago, India was ahead of China.” This is what the study noted in the context of India: there were some encouraging results in a few areas and a lot of room for improvement elsewhere, notably in the political and regulatory environment (71st) and the business and innovation environment (91st). The report was however quite critical of India’s governmental policy which it argued was impeding digital facilities in the country. It blamed extensive red tapism and noted that corporate tax is among the highest of all analysed countries.

For instance, it typically takes four years and 46 procedures to enforce a contract.

However not all is gloomy in the report. India does rank high when it comes to availability of new technology (47), venture capital (27th), the intensity of local competition (31st), and the quality of management schools (30th). But it is quite clear that these are not enough when it comes to creating a digital revolution of any sort. It’s not impossible for Indians to create digital businesses that are successful, one only look at websites like Flipkart, Shaadi.com, Rediff.com, etc to prove that web businesses have potential. But it’s clear that government policies are holding India back. Even if funds are found to start new projects, getting around the Indian bureaucracy can be a  trying task for a lot of budding investors and startups. The report notes that while the Indian government has been trying to using ICTs to create jobs, education, curb corruption etc, these are mere baby steps as far transformation is concerned. Digital technology is still the privilege of a lucky few. For instance only 7.5 percent of the population in India has access to the Internet, while just six percent of households own a PC. Broadband Internet remains the privilege of a few, with less than one subscription per 100 population. Indeed, India’s Internet revolution is a long way ahead. With inputs from AP