Canada lost ground in the International ICT Development Index

In a new report titled Measuring the Information Society the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) shares with the world its findings for 150 countries and their place in the International ICT Development Index. Needless to say I am not at all surprised to find out that Canada has slipped from 9th place in 2002 to 19th place in 2007. While the country’s absolute number increased over the five years (ie. ICT use increased) it was at a slower rate than many other countries.

During that five years no other country in the top 50 declined as rapidly as Canada as the country was passed by the US, Australia, New Zealand as well as a number of Asian and European countries. As Michael Geist reports in his post on this disappointing news

The decline in a sub-index on ICT use is even more dramatic. The sub-index measures Internet user penetration, fixed broadband penetration, and mobile broadband penetration. Canada ranked 4th worldwide in 2002. By 2007, we dropped to 21st worldwide. While the survey also includes data suggesting that Canada has relatively inexpensive fixed broadband (2nd worldwide), the declining numbers are consistent with other studies that indicate that any advantages that Canada had in the late 1990s have long since disappeared.

And people wonder why I get cranky when I talk about Canada and its place in a broadband world.