Europe falls behind on digital innovation

The Digital Evolution Index, created by the Fletcher School at Tufts University, compared 50 countries to find the most digitally progressive. The research found that while China, Malaysia and Thailand topped the list of nations making the biggest leaps in technology between 2008 and 2013, European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Belgium and Finland, fell to the bottom three places and were classed as ‘rapidly receding countries’.

China’s progress is believed to be due to its investment in digital money and tech giants

China’s progress is believed to be due to its investment in digital money and tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent have enabled the country to lead the way in an increasingly competitive market with m-commerce revenue estimated at $3.7bn in the second quarter of 2014.

According to the DEI, published in a Digital Planet Report, EU countries are still out-performing many of their neighbours in terms of digital innovation, with the UK, Switzerland and Netherlands among the top 10 global countries. In terms of digital progression, Europe appears to have stagnated and lost its momentum as nations with the most negative scores hailed from the EU, with the exception of Australia.

To measure this performance, the DEI took into consideration four drivers of Internet growth: consumer demand, supply and existing infrastructure, institutional environment and innovation.

Speaking in a statement, Anabel González, Senior Director of the Trade and Global Competitiveness Practice, The World Bank, said: “The DEI illustrates how countries evolve over time through the interplay between innovation, institutional policies, and demand and supply conditions. This approach allows countries not only to benchmark against the best, but also to track their own progress and identify where policy improvements may be made.”