跨越数字鸿沟人才培养与数字法治是关键

The digital divide: risks and opportunities World CompetitivenessCenter November 2024 IMD WORLD DIGITAL COMPETITIVENESS RANKING 2024 Copyright © 2024IMD: Institute for Management Development23, Ch. de BelleriveP.O. Box 915CH-1001 LausanneSwitzerland e-mail :wccinfo@imd.orgInternet:www.imd.org/wcc Visit our Marketplace:www.wcceshop.org All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, orby any information storage and retrieval system. Nor may any part of this publication be included as a reference in any other work withoutauthorization. IMD, IMD INTERNATIONAL REAL LEARNING. REAL IMPACT, IMD BUSINESS SCHOOL and IMD WORLD COMPETITIVENESS YEARBOOKare trademarks of IMD –International Institute for Management Development Preface This is the eighth year that the WCC has produced its IMD World Digital CompetitivenessRanking, tracking the ever-changing conditions of digital governance, economy, and society. The total number of economies assessed this year is 67, with Ghana, Nigeria, and Puerto Ricomaking their debuts. This reportThe Digital Divide: Risks and Opportunities, focuses on the global impact ofthree overlapping phenomena: the uneven development of digital infrastructure, geopoliticaltensions, and the impact of emerging technologies. We explore how, as technological advancements continue to evolve quickly, the ability ofgovernments and companies to invest in data infrastructure and systems will be an ever-greater determinant of a country’s digital competitiveness. I strongly believe that instead of overly worrying about the dark side of AI and Web3’stechnologies, our main focus should be on understanding and learning about them, startingwith planting them in our education systems. Digital transformation, then, goes hand in hand with financial development and inclusion.National policies in conjunction with global regulation can feed the fair use of individualinformation. The European Union, the UAE, and Singapore are at an advantage in this sensecompared to the US and China, where the “rule of digital law” is still not fully upheld. And yet, Europe’s fragmented capital markets and financing systems are major obstacles to itsdigital competitiveness. As the European Commission gears up for a new five-year term andshapes its forthcoming policies, now is an apt moment for reflection. And with Donald Trumphaving secured a second presidential term, we should be anticipating the effects of near-definite protectionism not only in the US but also in Europe, China, and the Global South. As our report discusses, countries resort to economic protectionism partly to safeguardstrategic industries and the technology sector is key among them. An increase in trade frictionbetween the US and China will lead to trade volatility and policy uncertainty. The knock-oneffect? Strategic hesitation among third-party countries in terms of which areas of digitaltechnology to invest in. We are, as ever, indebted to our partner institutes and the IMD alumni community for offeringnational-level data and executive opinion survey answers without which our ranking wouldn’tbe possible. Finally, I leave you with a quote emphasizing the importance of seeing “digital” in the contextof global infrastructure. It was spoken by Alaa Moussawi, Chief Data Scientist of New York CityCouncil, at the AI & Web3 Festival in Dubai this September: “Data is not a commodity; data isoxygen, and oxygen is the same everywhere.” Professor Arturo BrisDirectorIMD World Competitiveness Center Table of Contents Digital CompetitivenessCountry Profiles The IMD WorldCompetitiveness Center For more than thirty years, the IMD World Competitiveness Center has pioneered research onhow countries and companies compete to lay the foundations for sustainable value creation.The competitiveness of nations is probably one of the most significant developments in modernmanagement and IMD is committed to leading the field. The World Competitiveness Centerconducts its mission in cooperation with a network of 65 Partner Institutes in 58 countries toprovide the government, business and academic communities with the following services: •Competitiveness Special Reports•Competitiveness Prognostic Reports•Workshops/Mega Dives on competitiveness•IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook•IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking•IMD World Talent Ranking•Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index•Smart City Index The IMD World Competitiveness Center Team Professor Arturo BrisJosé CaballeroChristos CabolisFrancesca de NicolaMatisse GrafFabian GrimmMadeleine HedigerJean-François KaeserOdete MadureiraWilliam MilnerChinar SharmaAlice Tozer DirectorSenior EconomistChief Economist & Head of OperationsSenior EconomistInternResearch SpecialistData Research and Online Services SpecialistIT Consultant (KAESCO Consulting)Center CoordinatorAssociate DirectorProjects AnalystEditor We also have the privilege of