Singapore is ranked second on the World Economic Forum’s annual Networked Readiness Index (NRI), one of six Asia-Pacific economies to poll in the top 20.
Singapore rose two positions over last year to place behind Sweden, which this year displaced Denmark as having the best environment for developing and using IT and communications technologies (or ICTs).
Five other Asian economies are listed in the top 20, with Hong Kong in eighth position, Taiwan 11th, Korea 15th, Australia 16th and New Zealand 19th.
Malaysia ranked 27th overall but was voted first among upper middle income nations, while China (37th) was first among lower middle income nations.
Twelve of the top 20 in the index were from Europe. The US ranked 5th, down two places from last year.
The NRI, which has been published since 2001, is intended as a measure of the environment for ICT development and adoption in each country.
It covers more than 50 difference factors, including legal framework, access to venture capital, hardware infrastructure, science education and business environment.
ICT accounted for approximately 5% of world GDP growth between 2003 and 2008 and 5.4% of GDP worldwide in 2008, WEF said.