SA has improved its global ICT ranking from 75th to 65th position in the Network Readiness Index (NRI) of the 2016 Global Information Technology report released by the World Economic Forum.
The report, sponsored by Cisco, measures the capacity of 139 economies to leverage ICT for growth, economic and social transformation.
According to the report, SA's strides in the overall NRI rankings are almost entirely driven by improvements in infrastructure and affordability. "South Africa's digital transformation is mostly business-driven, as the country notably performs best in business usage (32nd), followed by individual usage (77th) and government usage (105th)."
It adds: "Mobile tariffs have more than halved and broadband tariffs dropped slightly, reducing barriers to adoption also in terms of affordability."
Ovum senior analyst Richard Hurst says mobile and mobile data has been one of the core drivers of ICT access and reach. "South Africa's improvement on the network readiness index has implied that we have been embracing more technologies in our daily lives and using services to interact on a consumer as well as business level."
Hurst continues: "The improvements indicate that in certain respects we are focusing on the right issues, such as increased penetration of services and affordability."
Deepti Dhinakaran, ICT research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, adds: "This new position clearly shows the gradual improvements in infrastructure have paid off, thus enhancing the affordability of services.
"With further improvements in infrastructure and more government support, we can expect an increase in the usage of ICT services by individuals and government."
Tread carefully
While this year's NRI shows an improvement in SA's global ICT position, the country has slipped in rankings over the past couple of years. In 2014, SA was ranked 70th, while last year the country dropped five places to 75th.
According to the report, although the country is perceived by business executives to be performing relatively well in terms of its regulatory and political environment, innovation and business environment are rated significantly worse.
It adds there are strong signs of deterioration, especially regarding technology and venture capital availability, government procurement of the latest technologies, and days as well as procedures to start a business.
"It would be a pity if these developments were to offset investments in infrastructure that have significantly increased international Internet bandwidth and put the country among the top 20 globally on this particular indicator," the report reads.
Hurst also sounds off warnings and says SA will need to maintain this momentum and not have it derailed by issues such as Internet censorship.
Share