Saudi Arabia among‘top movers’ in ICT

The Kingdom ranked 33rd among 139 countries in the technology sector to be classified by the World Economic Forum as “top movers” in the field of information and communication technology.
The Kingdom is trying to enter the club of top seven in the ICT world.
The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology said in a statement on Wednesday that the Kingdom advanced two ranks in the past 12 months to reach 33rd in terms of preparedness to contain miscellaneous information technology networks.
The Kingdom ranked eighth globally in terms of the efficiency in the use of information technology and communications by government and official bodies in their work, and the extent to improve the quality of government services for the population in the field of information technology.
The Kingdom also ranked 15th in terms of broadband subscriptions for mobile computers per 100 inhabitants, and 17th in the production of electricity (kwh per capita), and 18th in the index of the quality of services provided by the government in the field of Internet projects.
According to the global report for ICT, the Kingdom ranked 89th in terms of the average cost of one minute for a mobile call, and in 30th position in terms of the applicable laws on ICT.
The Kingdom also ranked 30th in terms of absorbing information and communication technologies, or the capacity of private sector businesses to adopt new technologies.
In terms of the percentage of households with a personal computer, the Kingdom came in 31st and also in the same position in the scope of participation in social media including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and in 33rd position in terms of the impact of information and communication technology on business models.
Saudi Arabia ranked 37th in terms of fixed-line broadband computer and Internet subscriptions for every 100 inhabitants.
According to the report, the Kingdom came in third in the world in terms of the number of mobile phone subscribers by percentage of population, and ranked sixth in terms of overall amounts of various types of taxes on information and communication technology as a percentage of commercial profits.
The Kingdom also occupied the 7th position, for the third time, in terms of government procurement of advanced technologies of information and communication technology devices; the percentage of households with access to the Internet at home; and the importance of information and communication technology to the government.
Despite this, the World Economic Forum placed Saudi Arabia among several countries named “top movers” in the field of ICT including South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Canada, France, Germany, the UAE, Australia, Malaysia, China, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia and Mexico.

Source: Arab News