Canada falls in WEF global technology rankings
The Financial Post
By Ora Morison
Canada trails the United States and six other countries when it comes to using technology to compete on a global scale, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum.
Canada ranks eighth overall in the Global Information Technology Report — which was produced in association with the international business school INSEAD — which evaluates how well countries use and adopt technologies within their individual regulatory and infrastructure environments.
The 2010-11 ranking marks a slip for Canada from seventh place last year.
While the numerical ranking itself isn’t eye-popping, the report does highlight several problems Canada needs to address, according to Jim Milway, executive director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity.
“We don’t realize our full potential,” Mr. Milway said.
Canadian companies need to make better use of technology, said Mr. Milway, who believes businesses aren’t motivated to use technology because Canadian regulations shelter companies from severe international competition.
“Our competitive intensity is not the same pitch as in the U.S.” Mr. Milway said. “Our big challenge in Canada is we don’t draw on the technology that’s out there.”
This makes Canadian managers less comfortable when it comes to integrating new technologies in to their business.
“Our business leaders are not as well-educated as in the U.S.” he said. “We value education less.”
Canada ranks 20th in the world for spending on research and development and comes in 95th for mobile phone penetration.
“Canadian businesses appear less prompt than their southern neighbours to harness new technologies or produce and export innovative products,” states one section of the report.
Sweden topped the rankings for the second year in a row, followed by Singapore, Finland and Switzerland.
The United States ranked fifth overall in the report.
Tamer Azer, a researcher at the Canadian Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity who contributed to the report, says that closing the gap between U.S. and Canadian business investment in technology should be a priority.
“We believe there is a strong correlation in investment in information and communication technology and productivity,” Mr. Azer said. “We have a tremendous opportunity to ramp up our investment.”
