US dethroned as tech superpower -- hint: not by S.Korea

We're certainly not surprised to see the US fall from the top of the technology heap. While still in the top 10 (above Iceland and below The Netherlands), it's now our taller, thinner Nordic friends in Denmark and Sweden holding the gold and silver positions, respectively. This according to a report by the World Economic Forum. Their rankings are based on the integration of technology in business, available infrastructure, and whether the local government creates a culture which fosters innovation. And what of our technology overlords: S.Korea? 19th, just ahead of Estonia. Hmm. Time to unleash the robots and defend your honor!

[Via BBC]

Read -- WEF world ranking (warning: PDF)

[Will @ Mar 29th 2007 8:33AM]

Estonia number 20? They've probably never been to Estonia.

That list is completely fubared

[jaapV @ Mar 29th 2007 8:57AM]

It is not really about the people living there, but more about the economy:
"Their rankings are based on the integration of technology in business, available infrastructure, and whether the local government creates a culture which fosters innovation."
There are a lot of scandinavion IT companies in estonia which would suggest the tech infrastructure.

Furthermore, there only less than 2 milion people living in that country, so it is not saying much. I'd say that the US would probably still be on top (or near) if you look per population size.
Actually, a breakdown of the US by state would be very interesting too, I'd like to know where (e.g) Texas is compared to one of the square states in the mid-west.

[WhoDatNinja @ Mar 29th 2007 8:42AM]

What? I didn't even know the US was in the top 3. I figured Japan and S. Korea would hold the top two positions, then European country or two.

[fredouil @ Mar 29th 2007 8:49AM]

This ranking is pure BS :

How come Australia can be far above France.This is ridiculous, Broadband and everything about network is just a pity down here, i have the beach but my internet connection sucks.

[Mike @ Mar 29th 2007 8:49AM]

Probably written by the same European US-Haters who just want to make us look bad at every turn.

They fail to take into account the SIZE of the US vs those other nations. Try comparing California to Sweden... I think the result will be obvious.

Infrastructure will vary from state-to-state depending on population density. Major states like New York and California will take the cake, while middle-american states like the Dakotas barely register.

[Tom @ Mar 29th 2007 9:29AM]

Yeah right. Let's just call any critics USA haters, especially if they're Europeans. Let's cry foul even if it's obvious that you aint got no clue about the methology, actual findings, data used aso. Let's ignore any and all findings that do not blindly glorify the US and it's achievements. Let's not learn instead and let's not think about what could be improved. Let's ignore that various other researches came to similar conclusions (e.g. http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/104255 ).

But hey, here's a little balm on your wounded US patriot soul. Another research, that came to the conclusion that the US IS the most innovative nation. But you better sit down now cos *shock!* it's been done by a FRENCH research group:
http://www.worldbusinesslive.com/Article/625441/the-worlds-top-innovators/

Happy flag waving.

[Hannes @ Mar 29th 2007 2:22PM]

> Infrastructure will vary from state-to-state depending on population density. Major states like New York and California will take the cake, while middle-american states like the Dakotas barely register.

I wouldn't say that, as only Denmark has higher population density (126/km²) compared to the US (31/km²) of the nordic countries. Sweden has 20/km², Finland 15.5/km² and Norway has the lowest at 12/km². Any explanation to this?

[theycallmeMartin @ Mar 20th 2008 4:56AM]

I would say that the lower pop density, the harder and more expensive it is to connect everyone due to greater cost pr capita.

It sure is easier to build a good infastructure in a smal country, however the cost pr capita is greater, and because the US is such large and powerfull market you have a totaly different level of competition between companies.

In Sweden we pay much more tax than the us , between 30 to 50%(on our salaries). Thus the government have more money to build a good infastructure (pr capita again). Due to the fact that Sweden is such a small country, the politics in the US would never work here, and the other way around. This makes the two countries totaly different, and quite hard to compare.

[Mark @ Mar 29th 2007 9:18AM]

Bow down to your Aryan Nordic overlords folks :-)

[Bjarke Andersen @ Mar 29th 2007 9:56AM]

Yes we won, we're no. 1!!!!! Bow to us, however after having being the are for 10 years I also fell that IT guys are the one with most frustrating jobs, because CEOs always demands the newest stuff, the cheapest way and asap (meaning yesterday).

However I still cannot believe it since loads of users are still powering off their monitors when rebooting and still have not found the "any key".

[Pete D @ Mar 29th 2007 10:47AM]

To Will (ie 1st comment) Have YOU ever been to Estonia? Funny enough all the people I know from Estonia are extremely technologically literate. Often using technology in ways I have never thought of.

I agree with the rankings. There are some many places in the US that have little reliance on technology (think N. Dakota/Montana/W Virginia and other backwoods places). Now if you were to look at say Western Washington, S. California or the Tri-State area and compare those to Denmark, Holland or a similar size country, it might be a different story.

Also people need to remember there are countries in the world that have over 100% cellular adoption rates. The US doesn't even come close to that.

[Naman @ Mar 29th 2007 10:49AM]

So what. Their demographics suck, so there won't be any Scandanavians in a few decades anyway.

[Pete D @ Mar 29th 2007 10:53AM]

On a side note... Where are countries like Monaco? With a 6sq mile land mass and the amount of money they have, you would think they would have fiber running to every building/house in the country. Hell maybe even that new Alcatel-Lucent technology. 25.6Tbps to my house would be great.

[Frankenstein Black @ Mar 29th 2007 11:29AM]

If AG was president I would have my "Energy Positive" Solar Powered Flying Car right now!

When I was a lad they "promised me flying cars" by the turn of the century. Where's my flying car? ;^)...

[randy @ Mar 29th 2007 11:35AM]

"WEF world ranking (warning: PDF)"

We've all got Acrobat reader. Perhaps your warning should have been:

"WEF world ranking (warning: European Socialists)"

[Boof @ Mar 30th 2007 1:06AM]

We know you have acrobat reader randy. The warning is there because these links often take longer to load and are some times better accessed by downloading the linked file rather than opening it in your browser.

[Oren @ Mar 29th 2007 1:34PM]

The list measures "Networked Readiness." It's probably (number of people online)/(total population). That's not a fair measure of tech superpowerness...

[os @ Mar 29th 2007 1:58PM]

First of all I am happy to see that so many countries have well developed IT infrastructure. Congratulations to our friends in the Nordic countries for devoting considerable resources to this worthwhile endeavor. However, I am not so sure on the ranking mechanism used. As others have mentioned, comparing a small country like Sweden or Iceland to the United States is not really fair. It is much easier/cheaper to develop infrastructure for a small population/geographic area. Given the prominence of the EU these days it would be fairer to rank all EU member nations as a single group. It would be interesting to see how the EU would rank here.

[Svensk @ Mar 29th 2007 2:02PM]

Mike:
"Sweden has a low population density except in its metropolitan areas; 84 percent of the population lives in urban areas, which take up only 1.3 percent of the total land area." -Wikipedia

Norrland (Pretty much anything above Stockholm) is still very well connected.

[airpolgas @ Mar 29th 2007 2:04PM]

We'd like to thank the RIAA, the MPAA, the Telcos and all our politicians for doing a wonderful job of "creating a culture that fosters innovation."

/sarcasm

[Grandalf @ Mar 29th 2007 2:04PM]

Mike, post #4 said: They fail to take into account the SIZE of the US vs those other nations. Try comparing California to Sweden... I think the result will be obvious.

here's some facts for you mate.

Sweden:
Area
Total 449,964 km² - 173,732 sq mi

Population
2006 estimate 9,110,972
Density 20 /km² - 52 /sq mi

California:
Area
Total 410,000 km² - 158,302 sq mi

Population
Total (2000) 33,871,648
Density 83.85/km² - 217.2/sq mi

And guess what. 90% of all Swedes have fiber available to their household :)

[OddManOut @ Mar 29th 2007 2:21PM]

"...you aint got no clue about the methology..."

I beg to differ. I'd say the US is probably #1 in methology. Which is probably why our tech status is going down...

I mean sure, when you're hopped up on crystal meth you can surf the web or play WOW for days on end, but it's difficult to earn enough money to pay your BB internet bill with a fried brain...

Assuming of course your kitchen/garage doesn't explode...

[jens.maigaard @ Mar 29th 2007 2:47PM]

We rock! Naa-na-na-naaa-naa!

[tpp @ Mar 29th 2007 4:53PM]

Any country that relies on PAPER checks for the majority of its money transfer activity deserves to be towards the bottom of the list. Care to guess which major world power qualifies?

Some of those "US-hating" European countries have had electronic money transfers for decades and people don't even know what a check is. That's freakin' integrating technology into business the right way.

Stop complaining about the list. In terms of technology in every day use, the US *is* pretty backwards.

[Fredster @ Mar 29th 2007 5:19PM]

tpp, Spot on!! Checks? WTF??!!

Mike, honestly, take your head out of your butt! Seriously! You should try to travel a bit and see that there actually IS a world outside the US. Don't be so damn ignorant to think that every good thing comes from your country! Have you even ever lived in Sweden or in any of the other Scandinavian countries?? Sorry about the flaming, but i just can't put up with narrow minded selfish people!

[Mike @ Mar 29th 2007 5:23PM]

If only the US would stop with the lawsuits and focus on innovating.