Branding Chinese youth as 'net addicts' misses the point

Stuart Corner
Monday, 26 November 2007 09:33

Opinion and Analysis

We have heard much about how broadband infrastructure and services are key to economic well being, but far less on the impact of different populations' abilities to be comfortable with and exploit these technologies However the Economist Intelligence Unit has been striving to do this for years.

Since 2000 it has published annually its "e-readiness rankings" (2007 edition available here ) E-readiness is the 'state of play' of a country's information and communications technology infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit.

The EIU says that: "When a country does more online—or, as is increasingly the case, wirelessly—the premise is that its economy can become more transparent and efficient. Our ranking allows governments to gauge the success of their technology initiatives against those of other countries. It also provides companies that wish to invest in online operations with an overview of the world's most promising investment locations."

The e-readiness rankings are a weighted collection of nearly 100 quantitative and qualitative criteria, organised into six distinct categories measuring the various components of a country's social, political, economic and technological development.

The EIU says that: "The underlying principle behind the rankings is that digital business is at its heart business, and that for digital transactions to be widely adopted and efficient they have to thrive in a holistically supportive environment. E-readiness derives from more than just the number of computers, broadband connections and mobile phones in the country; also critical are citizens' ability to utilise technology skilfully, the transparency of the business and legal systems, and the extent to which governments encourage the use of digital technologies.

 Out of the 69 countries rated in 2007, Denmark was number one, the US number 2, Australia 9 and China 56. The EIU notes that "China has a low ranking in these [political environment and labour market] subcategories in both global and regional terms in 2007-2011."

However the EIU ranking is based on economy wide measurements. This could skew the results in a way that underestimates China's effectiveness as a 'digital economy'. This may well be more dependent on the elite 10 percent which the IAC/JWT survey reached than the population as a whole. Remember also that these are the late teens and young adults that will assume positions of increasing influence in the next five to ten years.

Diller's comment bears repeating: "Like many other areas in comparing Americans to the energy and progress elsewhere in the world, China's speedy evolution in its use of the Internet is fast eclipsing that of the US. I think this is great for China, not so great for us."