UK IT: Backwards in comparison

The UK may be increasing its broadband penetration, but it is falling behind countries such as Austria, Canada and New Zealand in its acceptance of new technology.

IDC on Monday announced that Nordic countries once again dominated its annual index of top IT nations, while the US has dropped four places and the UK has disappeared altogether from the top 10.

The 2003 IDC/World Times Information Society Index (ISI) has analysed 55 countries every year on their ability to implement and use IT to advance technological, economic and social goals. Factors considered include PC and Internet usage, e-commerce, telecommunications infrastructure, broadband and wireless subscribers, education levels, press freedom and government corruption.

Last year, the UK ranked seventh, outstripped only by three of the Nordic countries, the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The country's drop in status will not be welcomed by the government, which plays up the UK's household internet penetration, the use of ecommerce and the rapid spread of broadband as evidence that the UK is in high-tech's major leagues.

However, an Oftel report earlier this year found that the growth in internet take-up by residential customers had slowed during 2002, and shows no sign of increasing.

According to Oftel's figures, the ratio of UK homes with internet access is currently stable at just over four in ten households - compared with 69 per cent for top-ranked Sweden.

Sweden topped the chart for the fourth year in a row, with the Nordic countries taking up four of the five top spots, as they have done for most of the past six years. However, the US - which has also ranked in the top five for several years - fell four places to eighth, while the UK, Australia and Taiwan exited the top 10. In the mean time, New Zealand, Austria and Canada rose into the top 10 after failing to make an appearance there last year.

About 69 per cent of Sweden's population is online, with 15 per cent of them on broadband connections, while 80 per cent subscribe to mobile phone services, and 25 per cent of web users access the internet from mobile devices.

Matt Broersma writes for ZDNet.co.uk