South Africa ranks 37th in the world in the 2008 IT industry competitiveness index, according to a study released by the Economist intelligence unit on Monday. <\/p>\n
The country’s ranking was unchanged against its 2007 ranking, a finding weighted primarily towards a strong business and legal environment, represented by 76.9 and 63.5 percent respectively. <\/p>\n
The study assessed and compared the information technology (IT) industry environments of 66 countries to determine the extent to which they enabled IT sector competitiveness. <\/p>\n
Although the top 20 economies remained the same from one year ago, nine countries moved up and 11 went down in the rankings. <\/p>\n
Three countries in the top five were new: Taiwan, Sweden and Denmark. The top five countries in Middle East-Africa region were Israel (56.7), South Africa (32.6), Turkey (32.4), Saudi Arabia (32.3) and Egypt (25.3). <\/p>\n
The overall top countries consisted of the United States (74.6), Taiwan (69.2), the United Kingdom (67.2), Sweden (66) and Denmark (65.2). <\/p>\n
"This year’s index shows that a country’s IT competitiveness rankings can move upward or downward very quickly," said Alastair de Wet, chairperson of the South African chapter of the Business Software Alliance, sponsor of the survey. <\/p>\n
"South Africa has been identified, alongside Bulgaria, the Ukraine and Vietnam as an emerging outsourcing destination and through the realisation of faster, more reliable and more secure internet access, we can look forward to receiving a significant boost with fast, competition-led infrastructure development," De Wet added. <\/p>\n
The study found that South Africa performed strongest in the areas associated with the business and legal environment, as well as support for IT industry development with a score of 57.5 percent. <\/p>\n
Areas of improvement include IT infrastructure (8.4 percent), primarily through the provision of high-quality networks and greater liberalisation of telecommunications in the region. <\/p>\n
Said Denis McCauley, director, global technology research with the Economist intelligence unit: "Policymakers and business leaders need to address the full combination of factors that enable competitive IT industries. <\/p>\n
"Few countries can hope to build strong IT production sectors without strong business and legal environments, deep pools of talent, support for innovation and the widespread use of technology throughout society," he added.<\/p>\n