Since 2002, Singapore has declined comparatively in the rankings of information societies when measured according to ICT skills. This is mixed news. Foremost, the sub-index of the overall information society rankings maintained by ITU is imperfect. But before we are quick to conveniently dismiss this ranking, let’s state up-front that the ITU effort is the best available ranking and here is what the skills sub-index actually measures.
- adult literacy
- gross secondary enrollment
- gross tertiary enrollment
Because this is a proxy indicator–we are not yet able to directly define and measure what is digital literact across 100+ countries–the measure is given less weight in the overall rankings. Still, overall, Singapore declined in the rankings which means that other nations are progressing more rapidly.
Given the tremendous infrastructure in Singapore, and the high levels of technology adoption, I see a tremendous opportunity for this economically advanced nation to scale up its digital literacy training (e.g., in schools and corporations) and start taking advantage of the resources already available.
You can read my first post on the subject here.
