Network Readiness Index 2023
Benchmarking the Future of the Network Economy
NRI 2023 Ranking
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Explore the Readiness Ranking
Since network readiness is a multi-dimensional concept, the Network Readiness Index (NRI) is a composite index constructed with three levels.
The primary level consists of four pillars that make up the fundamental dimensions of network readiness. Each of the fundamental pillars divides into additional sub-pillars that constitute the second level. The third level consists of individual indicators distributed across the different sub-pillars and pillars of the primary and secondary levels. All indicators used within the NRI belong to a pillar and a sub-pillar.
Network Readiness Index (NRI) 2023 Highlights
The most network-ready societies
The United States, Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are the most network-ready societies, according to the Network Readiness Index (NRI) 2023 report. This makes Europe (with three countries in the global top 5) the leading region in the world.
The global leaders
The United States remains the undisputed global leader when it comes to Future Technologies; ranking in the top 10 in each sub-pillar (Access, Content, Future Technologies). China is now a global leader in key areas such as AI, e-commerce, 5G, gig economy prevalence and education quality, and it is helping bridge the digital gap between higher and middle income economies. While Singapore leads in the overall affordability of technology and its impact on the economy and society at large.
The ones facing challenges
Africa continues to trail behind other regions, especially when it comes to access, affordability, and usage of ICTs. However, it takes the lead with the largest number of economies that have exceeded expectations, with 20 nations surpassing projections in at least one category. Impressively, 15 of these countries have excelled in the crucial dimension of digital Governance.
The issue of trust in our interconnected world
Network societies run on a learned level of trust in the information, communication, and related digital media and technologies that underpin them. Throughout the rise of our network society, trust in technology has been an enduring issue for businesses, governments, and society as a whole. This year’s report seeks to provide insights into the resilience or decline of trust online by tracking trends in trust, identifying potential driving forces behind these changes, and proposing actionable recommendations for policy and practice.
The importance of tracking network readiness
You cannot improve what you cannot measure. As our digital world continues to evolve and shape before us, policy makers, investors, analysts, academics and ordinary citizens are often expected to make fast decisions and articulate sound assessments about rapidly changing trends and practices. The need for fact-based and quantifiable descriptions of our network societies has never been so urgent. This is an area in which, for several decades, NRI has been trying to inform the choices to be made by business, government and civil society.
- Africa31 Countries
- Arab States13 Countries
- Asia & Pacific21 Countries
- CIS7 Countries
- Europe41 Countries
- The Americas21 Countries
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of Moldova
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkiye
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
Countries
Historically, the Top 10 performers in the NRI exhibit three prominent trends: they consistently belong to high-income economies, demonstrating robust network readiness across all dimensions, and European countries continue to dominate the list.
These trends continue in the NRI 2023, with each of the top 10 countries achieving a top 25 ranking across all four primary pillars (Technology, People, Governance, Impact). As for regional distribution, Singapore and Korea remain the only top 10 countries located in Asia and the Pacific, while the United States is the only economy located in the Americas. The rest of the top 10 rankings consist of European countries.
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Initially launched in 2002 with the World Economic Forum, the NRI has been redesigned in 2019 by its founders and co-editors, Soumitra Dutta and Bruno Lanvin, now under the auspices of the Portulans Institute, to reflect how technology and people need to be integrated within an effective governance structure in order to have the right impact on our economy, society and the environment. The 2023 NRI is the fifth edition of this renewed methodological model and it is focused on the issue of trust in our networked society. It ranks a total of 134 economies based on their performance across 58 variables.
