Thailand slipped one spot in IT industry's competitiveness ranking

Updated for the fourth time since 2007, the Index benchmarks 66 countries on a series of indicators covering the critical foundation areas for IT innovation: overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development (R&D), legal environment, and public support for industry development.

 

The 2011 IT Industry Competitiveness Index is available for download on BSA’s website at www.bsa.org/globalindex, along with interactive ranking tables, detailed country summaries, industry case studies, and video interviews with IT experts. 

 

Topping the overall rankings for 2011 are the United States, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

 

Thailand achieved a position of 50th in the world in the 2011 IT Competitiveness Index, a drop from 49th in 2009. This is mainly due to deterioration in performance in the area of government support for IT industry development.  However, within Asia, Thailand ranks 11th, directly behind China and ahead of the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

 

According to the National ICT Policy Framework 2011-2020 (ICT: 2020), Thailand has a goal to strengthen the IT/ ICT industry competitiveness to support the country’s economic growth particularly when the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) starts by 2015. And, the Economist Intelligence Unit's IT Industry Competitiveness Index (Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness) is one of indicators for the IT/ ICT industry competitiveness. 

 

“The results from the 2011 edition of IT Industry Competitiveness Index will help us evaluate the health of Thailand’s IT/ ICT position and adjust our existing model accordingly to give more support to the development of IT/ ICT industry, especially in the areas of IT infrastructure, human capital, and legal environments,” said Jeerawan Boonperm, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Information Technology and Communication (MICT).      

 

“With stronger and more effective protection and enforcement of software IT intellectual property rights – and this is something the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) is committed to – we can certainly help increase the competitiveness of Thailand’s IT/ ICT industry, based on the ICT: 2020,” Mrs. Pajchima Tanasanti, DIP Director-General, said. “It is also in line with the government’s Thai Creative Economic Policy which leverages innovation to create sustainable economic growth, opportunities for entrepreneurs and job growth.” 

 

 This year’s Index finds that countries traditionally strong in IT are maintaining their positions of leadership in part because “advantage begets advantage” — they have built up solid foundations for technology innovation through years of investment, and they are continuing to reap the benefits. But the global field of competition is becoming more crowded as new challengers, especially in developing economies, raise their games to meet the standards the leaders have set.   

 

“It is abundantly clear from this year’s IT Industry Competitiveness Index that investing in the fundamentals of technology innovation will pay huge dividends over the long term,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. “It is also clear that no country holds a monopoly in information technology. There is a proven formula for success, and everyone is free to take advantage of it. Because of that, we are moving to a world with many centers of IT power.”

 

“Although overall Thailand has slipped in IT industry’s competitiveness, the good news is the country’s PC software piracy rate is on a fast decline.  One way for Thailand to improve its ranking is for the government to embrace technology neutrality and maintain an open playing field for all players and technologies,” said Roger Somerville, BSA's Senior Director for Government and Policy, Asia Pacific.  

 

The biggest movers in this year’s Index compared to the previous edition in 2009 include Malaysia, which vaulted 11 spots in the overall rankings because of a surge in research and development activity, and India, which leapt 10 spots on the strength of its robust research and development and dynamic human capital environment. A number of other countries — including Singapore, Mexico, Austria, Germany and Poland — posted strong overall gains this year by showing new levels of strength across the board in all IT foundation areas.

 

There remains opportunity for Thailand to create an environment conducive to IT competitiveness. “With economists predicting more growth and more disposable income within Thailand, we have a great opportunity to establish long-term IT competitiveness for our country,” Varunee Ratchatapattanakul, a spokesperson for BSA Thailand said.  “We encourage policymakers to assess the years ahead, and set priorities in six areas identified in the EIU study, with the goal of improving the competitiveness of our IT sector in the future.”