The annual Global Information Technology report by the Swiss based World Economic Forum measures the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments. In the latest 2003-2004 report, Britain came in 15th amongst the 102 countries surveyed. The top 20 were

1.USA
2.Singapore
3.Finland
4.Sweden
5.Denmark
6.Canada
7.Switzerland
8.Norway
9.Australia
10.Iceland
11.Germany
12.Japan
13.Netherlands
14.Luxembourg
15.United Kingdom
16. Israel
17. Taiwan
18. Hongkong
19. France
20. Korea

Roughly speaking, the rankings of the digital haves and have-nots mirror the income per capita rankings. Digital infrastructure does not come cheap after all. However, there were some anomalies. For example, former Soviet Estonia (average GDP per capita of US$10,900) outperformed Italy (average GDP per capita US$25,000). Clearly, money is not the only factor at play here. Interestingly, judging by current GDP growth rates, Estonia will also be one of the fastest growing economies in the new European Union while Italy will be one of the slowest.

Amongst its top 20 peers, the UK was lauded for having a responsive government and a general consumer willingness to leverage the benefits of connectivity. What the UK does less well is actualising that willingness and the appreciation of the benefits of getting wired  into real online volume. This is a problem that starts and ends with investing in digital infrastructure to the same magnitude of, say, Finland.

From the perspective of the Highlands & Islands, there are some lessons to be drawn from this complete study. Absent the Singapores and Luxembourgs (it's easy to wire up a crowded rock), the efforts made and the rewards reaped by the sparsely populated regions of Scandinavia, Canada, and the United States demonstrate both the viability and the desirability of acquiring the infrastructure to better benefit from global developments in ICT. Far better to have and want not, then to want and have not.

Fortunately, the campaign for broadband in the Highlands & Islands rests in capable hands. Who better to fight the battle than a consortium composed of aimhi companies?