The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) is prepared by the World Economic Forum, INSEAD and Cornell University and examines “the increasing proliferation of technology and its effects on advancing global prosperity”. Digital innovation is reshaping economies worldwide and pressuring states and tech and non-tech sectors to adapt to the speed and scale of changes while mitigating ethical, legal, and regulatory risks.

As far as Lebanon is concerned, it still ranks among the worst Arab countries in terms of Networked Readiness but was the second biggest mover this year, gaining 11 ranks to land in 88th place in the overall NRI. The NRI currently assesses the state of networked readiness using 53 individual indicators. For each of the 139 economies covered, it allows the identification of areas of priority to more fully leverage ICTs for socioeconomic development.

Here’s what the report said:

Importantly, the country is registering substantial positive moves in all four subindexes. In terms of adoption, Lebanon is doing best in individual usage (46th), followed by business usage (97th) and government usage (124th). Most indicators of personal usage have been improving over the past year, with the business sector catching up in its use and adoption of digital technologies; with overall perceived progress in business adoption being slow around the world, this is a positive exception to the trend. Starting from a low level, government indicators are also moving in the right direction: in particular, the regulatory environment is improving in terms of judicial independence, the efficiency of the legal system, and the effectiveness of law-making bodies. Substantial
improvements are registered for the impact of ICTs on business models, organizational models, basic services, and government efficiency. Building also on a solid basis in terms of education, skills, and knowledge-intensive jobs, Lebanon has many of the factors in place to continue on this positive trajectory.

This is encouraging news of course but we are still very far behind and the technological gap between Lebanon and Gulf countries is already substantial.

You can check out the full report [here]. Lebanon’s profile is on page 142. If you look at the indexes, almost everything government-related is ranked among the worst worldwide

Thank you Rami!