Korea this year ranks sixth in digital technology competitiveness among 64 countries surveyed, the nation’s highest rank in the category in its history. Shown is a visitor trying virtual reality content on Nov. 23 at the Korean Government Expo held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, aka BEXCO, in the port city’s Haeundae-gu District. (Ministry of the Interior and Safety)
By Park Hye Ri
The country’s global ranking in digital technology competitiveness this year has jumped two spots from last year to a record high.
The Ministry of Science and ICT on Nov. 30 said Korea placed sixth among 64 countries in the annual IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Since 2017, the IMD has ranked global digital capacity and preparedness using 54 criteria covering nine categories in future readiness, technology and knowledge.
Korea ranked 12th in technology, up a notch from last year, and 10th in knowledge, a leap from 16th.
The nation secured the top spot in future readiness thanks to jumps in the rankings of indicators such as attitudes toward globalization (11th to seventh), which gauges societal awareness of globalization, and use of big data and analytics (34th to 31st).
By country, the U.S. topped the list after finishing second last year to Denmark, which dropped to fourth this year. The Netherlands came in at second and Singapore third, while China ranked 19th and Japan 32nd.
The ministry said Korea’s ranking was second only to the U.S. among 27 countries each with a population of 20 million or more.
hrhr@korea.kr
