Switzerland again in the Top 5 of Digital Competitiveness Ranking

The United States held on to the number one spot in IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking (WDCR) in 2019, with all top five economies in the ranking unchanged: USA, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. In the Top 10, the Netherlands, Hong Kong SAR and Republic of Korea moved up (to 6th, 8th and 10th, respectively), while Norway dropped to 9th and Canada fell from 8th to 11th.

Switzerland held on to 5th place. In the knowledge factor, it placed 2nd, in technology it ranked 10th, and in future readiness 10th. At the sub-factor level. Switzerland’s highest ranking was in talent (2nd). This factor includes for example international experience and foreign highly skilled personnel. Remarkable is also Switzerland’s first place when it comes to knowledge transfer.

Switzerland’s weakest ranking among sub-factors was for capital (16th), and training and education (15th). The poor performance regarding training and education is due to a lack of graduates in sciences and women with degrees as well as a relatively low public expenditure on education.

The sub-factor capital includes criteria such as availability of venture capital and IT and media stock market capitalization. Switzerland ranks poorly in particular with regard to the latter variable (42). But also the availability of venture capital is still a weakness. Switzerland ranks only 15th.

Asia grows in strength
Several Asian economies advanced significantly in the ranking compared to 2018. Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Korea entered the top ten while Taiwan and China moved up to 13th and 22nd respectively. All these economies experienced marked progress in their technological infrastructure and the agility of their businesses. Further down the ranking, India and Indonesia jumped four and six positions respectively, supported by positive results in talent, training and education as well as the enhancement of technological infrastructure.

In the Middle East, the UAE and Israel remained as key regional digital hubs but followed opposing trends with respect to 2018. The UAE climbed five places thanks to improvements in capital availability and supportive regulation for technology development. Israel dropped four positions, due to a decline in business agility and e-government indicators.

In Latin America, Mexico and Colombia were the only economies to advance in the ranking this year. The lack of resources to support talent and technological development prevents most economies in the region from improving knowledge generation and getting the most from digital transformation.