We're ready for E!

Broadband leads Ireland to 'e-readiness'

The increased availability of broadband has improved Ireland's standing in terms of e-readiness, but Ireland still lags behind the e-leaders of Europe.

In the latest e-readiness survey, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Denmark retained the top spot among 65 countries, edging out the United States, which has jumped from sixth place last year. The other countries in the top ten were Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Hong Kong, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Australia.

Ireland has stepped up one place from last year, from 16th to 15th place, despite the fact that this year's survey was weighted towards countries that had a high rate of broadband penetration. Broadband development has helped Switzerland rise to fourth place, and allowed the Netherlands to keep its eighth-place spot.

The report said that Ireland had risen in the rankings because of a 119 percent increase in the number of broadband connections in the first half of 2004 and despite the fact that the country still lags behind other European countries in terms of penetration.

The report also noted that easier access to the internet is helping the growth of e-commerce in Ireland. It also cited figures from the Bank of Ireland which said that the number of small businesses using its online services doubled in 2004 and that 80 percent of its larger customers are already banking online.

The rankings are based upon six categories - connectivity and technology infrastructure; business environment; consumer and business adoption; social and cultural environment; legal and policy environment; and supporting e-services

Many of the criteria in the report, which is produced in co-operation with IBM's Institute for Business Value, were re-weighted to reflect their increasing importance in determining e-readiness, such as broadband access and mobile penetration. New metrics have also been added, such as innovation and the penetration of public-access wireless "hotspots".