Digital_Ranking_Report_2021

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Top 5 economies: Highlights

Denmark ranks 4 th , down from 3 rd place. It undergoes drops in its positions in knowledge (6 th to 8 th ) and future readiness (1 st to 2 nd ), remaining in the same spot in technology (9 th ). Despite the drop under knowledge, Denmark remains among the leading economies in talent (5 th ) and training and education (4 th ). Similarly, in future readiness it remains in the top position in IT integration, and in the top 10 in adaptive attitudes (4 th ) and business agility (7 th ). Denmark also performs well in technology, remaining in 4 th and 6 th place in the regulatory and technological frameworks, respectively. Singapore drops to 5 th position (from 2 nd ), mainly as a result of declines in knowledge (from 2 nd to 4 th ) and technology (from 1 st to 3 rd ). Under knowledge, it experiences a deep drop in training and education (down to 13 th from 7 th ) but remains in the top 10 in talent (2 nd from 1 st ). In technology, Singapore shows its largest drop in the regulatory framework sub-factor (from 1 st to 5 th ) followed by the decline in capital (from 11 th to 14 th ). Within future readiness, however, its performances in IT integration (7 th ), and to a lesser extent in adaptive attitudes (11 th ) and business agility (12 th ), remain strong. Additionally, and according to participants in our executive survey, in the aforementioned 5 most digitally competitive countries, most companies successfully adopted new technologies to address the implications of the pandemic. Furthermore, the majority of these countries enabled their staff to develop the skills needed to face the technological shifts that emerged during the pandemic, while others facilitated the redeployment of their employees’ skills (see Figure 1 ).

The USA remains at the top of the 2021 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. It does so by performing strongly in the knowledge (3 rd place) and Future Readiness (1 st ) factors. In the former, the USA excels in the scientific concentration sub-factor. In the latter, its performance is boosted by the adaptive attitudes and business agility sub- factors, ranking 1 st in both. Hong Kong SAR ranks 2 nd , an increase from 5 th place last year. The advancement results mainly from improvements in the technology factor in which it ranks 1 st (up from 2 nd ) and to a lesser extent from increases in the knowledge factor, moving up to 5 th from 7 th . Under the technology factor, Hong Kong boosts its position by improving in all sub-factors, particularly in the technological framework sub- factor, in which it reaches the top position. In terms of the knowledge factor, it shows robust performances in training and education, moving from 5 th to the 1 st , and in talent within which it progresses to the 6 th rank (from 7 th ). In addition, although in the future readiness factor it remains in 10 th place, Hong Kong’s performance in adaptive attitudes (up 3 rd from 4 th ) and business agility (up 9 th from 14 th ) is sharp. Sweden moves up to 3 rd (from 4 th ), largely as a result of its performance in the knowledge (from 4 th to 2 nd ) and future readiness (from 7 th to 6 th ) factors. In knowledge, it advances in the talent (9 th to 7 th ) and scientific concentration (6 th to 4 th ) sub-factors, remaining in 2 nd place in training and education. In future readiness, its achievements come in adaptive attitudes (5 th from 8 th ) and despite a slight drop, in IT integration (from 4 th to 5 th ). Sweden’s performances in the regulatory framework and capital sub-factors (under technology), are also noteworthy, where it ranks 3 rd and 5 th , respectively.

Figure 4 : Knowledge factor - Top gainers 2017-2021

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IMD WORLD DI G I TAL COMPET I T I VENESS RANK ING 2021