On Thursday 9 May, the Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2023 of EU countries was published.
The data was analysed by the Centre for Global Competitiveness Research (IMD). The Centre for Economic Research of the University of Cyprus and the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists also contributed to the report.
It showed that Cyprus lost six positions at once last year. In the digital competitiveness ranking for 2023, the island state is in 51st place. It should be noted that a total of 64 countries were included in the list. At the same time, Cyprus' performance has previously shown fluctuating dynamics: 45th place in 2022, climbing to 43rd place in 2021, 40th place in 2020 and 54th place in 2019.
The IMD stressed that the negative trend for the third consecutive year is due to the deterioration of Cyprus' position in all categories. However, the worst performance was recorded in the "Future Readiness" and "Knowledge" categories. The main weaknesses include: the low percentage of science graduates, the influx of foreign students, business flexibility, the use of big data and business analytics by businesses, and knowledge transfer between universities and businesses.
The Digital Competitiveness Index measures the ability and willingness of economies to adopt and develop digital technologies that lead to improved functioning of government, business and society as a whole.
The IMD ranking is based on 54 criteria calculated from official statistics and public opinion survey data. The criteria are divided into three categories:
- "Knowledge - the ability to understand and develop new technologies,
- "Technology - the potential for digital innovation,
- "Future Readiness - the ability of the economy to take advantage of digital transformation.