Sweden and Singapore continue to top the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011, Transformations 2.0, (pdf), confirming the leadership of the Nordic countries and the Asian Tiger economies in adopting and implementing ICT  (information and communication technologies) advances for increased growth and development. Finland jumps to third place, while Switzerland and the United States are steady in fourth and fifth place respectively. Ireland gets a 29th ranking.

The 10th anniversary edition of the report focuses on ICT’s power to transform society in the next decade through modernization and innovation.

The report which is produced by INSEAD, the French business school, and the World Economic Forum (WEF), says Nordic countries lead the way in leveraging ICT. With Denmark in 7th and Norway in 9th place, all are in the top 10, except for Iceland, which is ranked in 16thposition. Led by Singapore in second place, the other Asian Tiger economies continue to make progress in the ranking, with both Taiwan, China, and Korea improving five places to 6th and 10th respectively, and Hong Kong SAR following closely at 12th.

Ireland gets a 29th rank, just behind Malaysia at 28th, Qatar at 24th and the United Arab Emirates at 24th.

With a record coverage of 138 economies worldwide, the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) featured in the report examines how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key societal actors - -  individuals, businesses and governments - -  to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of available ICT.

Under the theme Transformations 2.0, the 10th anniversary edition explores the coming transformations powered by ICT, with a focus on the impact they will have on individuals, businesses and governments over the next few years. The WEF says since the beginning of the report, the sheer amount of information generated by today’s digital society has increased at an astounding rate.

In order to measure the impact of ICT and this new data revolution, a new data sharing platform is also launched on the occasion of the report’s 10th anniversary to provide users with a set of tools to explore the impact of information and data technology on a range of socio-economic areas.

The Networked Readiness Index uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries included in the report. This survey of over 15,000 executives provides data on many qualitative dimensions important to assess national networked readiness.