14/07-03   -   Pressmeddelande

Nordic IT Leadership Consolidated by New IDC Index

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 14, 2003 — For almost a decade IDC has published its Information Society Index, which measures IT utilization for 55 nations. The Nordic countries have always been very well positioned on the index, but this year their dominating role is even more pronounced, as all four are in the top five.

Nordic ISI positions in 2001/2002:
Sweden: 1/1
Denmark: 5/2
Norway: 2/4
Finland: 8/5

In the past, high living standards, a well-educated population, and so on, spawned an early interest in IT that laid the building blocks for today’s IT societies. Governments, companies, and consumers learned the advantages of IT utilization, and investment in infrastructure, education, and development followed.

This forward-looking behavior is more or less universal in the region, and one needs to look at a few very specific elements in order to pinpoint the country differences that result in the different rankings.

Sweden has shown remarkable stability, capturing the top position for the fifth consecutive year as it continuously builds and upgrades infrastructure and uses it for more advanced services.

Denmark and Norway have frequently jostled with each other — as well as with non-Nordic countries — for the runner-up positions. This year Denmark claims second position, while Norway drops to fourth. The overall IT market has done somewhat better in Denmark, but the single most important reason is that Denmark has had a tremendously fast broadband rollout, while Norway has some difficulties — partly because of the size of the country — which call for larger scale investments of the kind that neither the government nor private companies seem willing to make.

Finland has always lagged somewhat, as PC and consequently Internet prevalence was relatively slow there. However, while Finland no longer excels in mobile phone penetration rates, mobile and wireless IT usage has grown to very advanced levels. As IT becomes increasingly mobile and wireless bandwidth grows, Finland may well become an equal contender to the other Nordic countries as being the most advanced IT nation in the world.

"Topping the chart means that we in the Nordic region have widespread IT deployment and are able to utilize it. As IT and communication grow increasingly important in business, a strong position equals a strong competitiveness. Moreover, one should not neglect the showing off effect´. Several large companies and financial institutions use the Information Society Index as one of the sources when deciding where to invest capital etc," said Anders Elbak, research manager with IDC in the Nordic region.

Abut IDC’s Information Society Index
The ISI was created in the mid-1990s as the world´s first measure of the abilities of 53 nations to participate in the information revolution. While gross domestic product (GDP) measures a country´s economic wealth, the ISI measures its information capacity and wealth.
The ISI is a unique study that combines 15 variables arranged in four infrastructures to calculate and rank nations in one overall index and four sub-indexes. The index and sub-indexes establish a standard by which all nations are measured according to their ability to access and absorb information and information technology.
The ISI and sub-indexes provide government planners, global IT and telecommunications corporations, and asset management firms with the data and analysis required to measure progress toward a digital society, assess market opportunities, and develop policies.
These results are from the preliminary view of the 2003 Information Society Index, which also features an explanation of the categories/methodology and a complete preliminary country ranking and data. The full study and dataset/forecast will follow in August 2003.
Building A Brave New World: The IDC Information Society Index 2003 (IDC #TB20030619, June 2003).

The study is available to purchase from your local IDC office, or on www.idc.com.


For additional IDC Nordic press releases, please see: http://nordic.idc.com/press

About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com

# # #


All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.


For more information, contact:
Anders Elbak
+45 39 16 22 48
aelbak@idc.com

Lotta Hållén-Kragh
+45 39 16 22 42
lhallen@idc.com