Taiwan ranks sixth globally for IT competitiveness

July 30, 2007

Taiwan ranks sixth globally for information technology competitiveness, according to a recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Taiwan placed ahead of Hong Kong, which ranked 21st of out of the 64 countries, and China, which ranked last.

The report, which focused on IT competitiveness, was the first of its kind issued by EIU.  The countries in the report were given scores on a scale of 100, with survey indices rating business environment, IT infrastructure, human resources, legal environment, R&D environment, and IT and technology industry development.

According to the survey report, the top ten countries for IT competitiveness were, in order of ranking by the EIU: the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Australia, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, and Switzerland.

In an interview with the Central News Agency, EIU's head researcher, surnamed Macquarie, said Taiwan's IT industry was fully competitive, and its ranking was quite good.

Commenting on the future direction of Taiwan's IT and technology industry, Macquarie said that Taiwan has room to improve in human resources development, particularly in training for IT and technology workers. He added that project management and business analysis skills would be increasingly important for these workers.

Macquarie also remarked that while Taiwan's strengths lay in hardware, semiconductors, and personal computers -- all of which were at world-standards -- Taiwan could develop further in the areas of software and technology services.

Taiwan's software and IT services sector must become innovative, and should not only rely on government projects, Macquarie said, adding that an environment where innovation is continuously pursued must be created. Having professional and creative personnel and companies willing to take risks are also necessary, he said.

The report noted that India, with the world's second largest population, ranked 46th for competitiveness. With a large labor force and lower wages, India and China are gradually catching up with the more developed countries, while other up-and-coming countries included Brazil, Malaysia, and Vietnam, said the report.

(Central News Agency)

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