Digital Ranking 2022



Figure 1: Correlation between “Government cybersecurity capacity” index and Knowledge factor (IMD, 2022)

Figure 2: Correlation between “Development and application of technology are supported by the legal environment” and E-Government index. (IMD, 2022)

In the following section, we explore the factors that support the strengthening of cybersecurity capacities, highlighting their various roles in the adoption and diffusion of digital technologies. Section 3 assesses the regional trends in this year’ Ranking and is followed by a discussion about

changes in the Ranking concerning the top 10 countries, including this year’s largest shifts. We conclude with some reflections on the importance of securing digitalization.

2. Cyber safety as a key driver for digitalization

As mentioned, the conjoint impact of globalization, advance- ments in the digital technologies field and the global pandemic have made economies more interconnected and have shifted even more parts of our business and personal interactions to the internet. This situation has vastly increased those risks associated with digital crimes such as fraud, and business and personal data thefts: cyber attacks. Cybersecurity capabilities, both at the company and governmental level, have therefore become of para- mount importance.

In this sense, this year’s Ranking provides interesting insights on two levels. On the one hand, the results shed light on those factors that facilitate the strengthening of governments’ and private sectors’ capacities to protect their digital infrastructure from cyber attacks. On the other, they show how doing so encourages the adoption and diffusion of digital technologies. Our analysis shows how economies that built strong knowledge generation hubs ( Figure 1 ) and that also invest heavily in R&D (e.g. total expenditure on R&D) are

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