As the scope of technology continues to expand rapidly, so too does the digital divide between countries making effective use of telecommunications.
According to a report published by the World Economic Forum entitled Global Information Technology: Living In A Hyper-Connected World, Barbados is ranked 39th out of 142 countries in its Networked Readiness Index.
Reacting to this development, LIME chief technical officer Glenn Thorpe, noted that “in the decade or so, Barbados, and for that matter Barbadians, have been successful in leveraging information and communication technologies”.
“Collectively, we have demonstrated our competence in the use of technology in the enterprise of business,” he said.
Spain is ranked 38th and Oman 40th in the list that was topped by Sweden and Singapore. Among other countries in the Top 10, the United States ranks eighth and Britain tenth.
The report compares the availability and use of technology in 142 countries and focuses on what the authors describe as “the transformational impacts of ICT on the economy and society”.
The only other Caribbean territories that feature among the Top 100 are Trinidad & Tobago (72), Jamaica (85) and Guyana (100).
“Barbados is indeed fortunate to have a skilled and diverse workforce, especially in the corporate sector, and through properly incorporating ICTs in the way we do business, the country has been able to successfully create a national environment that allows for sustained entrepreneurship and innovation,” Thorpe added.
“We must therefore continue to invest in ICT infrastructure, as is evidenced by LIME’s ongoing upgrades to both its fibre optics and 4G networks. The bottom line is that we must make the provisions that allow for the efficient use of available technologies, and if we, as a country, are successful in doing this, we will remain competitive in the global landscape.”
In its conclusion, the World Economic Forum noted: “The stubborn reality is that nations such as Russia (54), China (58), Brazil (60), and India (68), all of which enjoy an enormous labour force, are lagging far behind their more advanced counterparts in northern Europe and North America, and in spite of the spectacular global spread of mobile telephony, poorer countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, still suffer from a lack of infrastructure and connectivity.”
