Singapore hailed as most competitive IT market in Asia Pac

The country also clinched third place in global IT competitiveness.

Singapore has risen six places to become the third most competitive economy in the world in information technology, and is ranked Number One in Asia Pacific, the Business Software Alliance reported today with its publication of the 2011 edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit's IT Industry Competitiveness Index.

Updated for the fourth time since 2007, the Index benchmarks 66 economies on a series of indicators covering the critical foundation areas for IT innovation: overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development, legal environment, and public support for industry development.

Topping the overall rankings for 2011 are the United States, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Singapore achieved its third-place global rank on the strength of strong showing in its R&D environment, where it is ranked fifth in the world with two-thirds of the world’s biggest 100 IT firms having a presence in Singapore, and in support for IT industry development, where it is ranked fourth in the world. It also showed vast improvement in its human capital environment.

This is Singapore’s highest ranking since the Index was launched in 2007. Singapore was ranked ninth in the world and second in Asia Pacific in the previous 2009 Index. In claiming third spot, it vaulted Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark.

This year’s Index finds that economies traditionally strong in IT are maintaining their positions of leadership in part because “advantage begets advantage” — they have built up solid foundations for technology innovation through years of investment, and they are continuing to reap the benefits. But the global field of competition is becoming more crowded as new challengers, especially in developing economies, raise their games to meet the standards the leaders have set.

“It is abundantly clear from this year’s IT Industry Competitiveness Index that investing in the fundamentals of technology innovation will pay huge dividends over the long term,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman. “It is also clear that no economy holds a monopoly in information technology. There is a proven formula for success, and everyone is free to take advantage of it. Because of that, we are moving to a world with many centers of IT power.”

“Singapore has done well in this year’s rankings not just because of its excellent performance in R&D and support for IT industry development, but also because of consistently strong performance across all categories. In the years ahead, policymakers in Singapore have a great opportunity to build on that momentum. We know from global experience it will be worth the effort,” said Roger Somerville, Senior Director - Policy, BSA Asia-Pacific.

The biggest movers in this year’s Index compared to the previous edition in 2009 include Malaysia, which vaulted 11 spots in the overall rankings because of a surge in research and development activity, and India, which leapt 10 spots on the strength of its robust research and development and dynamic human capital environment. A number of other economies — including Singapore, Mexico, Austria, Germany and Poland — posted strong overall gains this year by showing new levels of strength across the board in all IT foundation areas.

“As the global economy starts to recover, it is more important than ever for governments to take a long-term view of IT industry development,” Holleyman said. “Policymakers cannot not just look at this issue on an annual basis, or they risk being left behind. They must assess the next seven to nine years, and invest accordingly, in order to make substantive gains in IT competitiveness.”