IMDWorldDigitalCompetitiveness Ranking2023 WorldCompetitivenessCenter Thestatisticaltablesareavailableforsubscribersofthe IMDWorldCompetitivenessOnline. VisitoureShop: WWW.WCCESHOP.ORG IamdelightedtopresenttheseventheditionoftheIMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessRanking(WDCR). Onceagain,wehaveanalyzedthecapacityofeconomieswithdifferinglevelsofprosperityandresources–andofvaryingsizesandmentalities–toembracenewdigitaltechnologiesandusethemtotransformgovernmentpractices,businessmodels,andsocietyingeneralinawaythatimprovespeople’slives.Thetotalnumberofeconomiesassessedinthe2023WDCRis64,withKuwaitmakingitsdébut. Building“digitalnations”–thatis,creatingsystemsthathelpcompaniesandindividualstoadoptdigitaltechseamlessly–shouldbeatoppriorityforexecutivesandanyonewhohasaninfluenceongovernmentalactivitiesin2024. ThisyearhasbeenpepperedwithcolorfultalksonArtificialIntelligence(AI)withequaldosesofconcern,excitement,andconjectureastohowitcouldshakeupourlives,startingwithourjobs.AIissettogenerateenormousproductivitygainsbyautomatingmanytasksthatpreviouslyrequiredhumanintervention,butIdonotthinkitisabouttoreplaceourjobs,despitethehype. Thatsaid,taskssettobereplaceddoincludecreativeonesjustasmuchasthosethatareroutine.Theincreasedefficiencythatwillensueisgoingtoreducecosts,butemploymentlevelscouldalsodrop.AIwillfillthegapthough,asIseeit,byprovidingpersonalizedservices,therebyboostingqualityoflifeandsatisfaction.Thisis,ofcourse,inanidealusecaseofthetechnology. WhilewemeasurenospecificAIindicatorsassuchintheWDCR–thatis,wearenotyetmeasuringtheuptakeofchatbots,say–AIsitssilentlyatthecoreofseveralofthesubfactorsintowhichwegroupourharddataandsurveyreplies.Theseare,namely:talent,regulatoryandtechnologicalframeworks,andadaptiveattitudesandbusinessagility.Onadatalevel,thequalityofdigitalregulation,thefundingavailablefortechnologydevelopment,andthedegreeofcompanyagilityarealldatapointsthatareenmeshedwithAI. AIandcybercrime,too,existinsymbiosis.AIassistsinpasswordcrackingviaalgorithmsandinhackingviaitsautomationabilities.Asmycolleaguesaddressintheiranalyticalreportthatfollowsmymacro-outlookfordigitalcompetitiveness,amere5%ofour4,000surveyrespondents(allglobalseniorexecutives)saidtheyhadn’timplementedanynewcybersecuritymeasuresinthepastyear. Andyet,AItoolshavealsoreducedtheneedforhumaninvolvementinaspectslikemalwaredevelopment,scams,andextortionwithincybercriminalorganizations.Thisaloneknocksthedigitaltalentpanoramaoffitsshelf.Cybersecurity,then,becomesaclearexampleoftheneedtoassessAI’strade-offsandtotakeaverydeliberateapproachtowardsusingitoptimally.Countriescannotdothisinisolationbutneedtoleanonregional,ifnotglobal,institutionstodoso. AttheIMDWorldCompetitivenessCenter,weare,asever,indebtedtoourpartnerinstitutes,theIMDalumnicommunity,andourpanelofexpertsforofferingacombinationofdataandinvaluableinsightswithoutwhichourrankingswouldbemerepipedreamsandnotthetoolsforpositiveactiontheyhavebecome.Thankyou. ProfessorArturoBris Director IMDWorldCompetitivenessCenter WorldCompetitivenessCenter Preface3 TheIMDWorldCompetitivenessCenter7 PartnerInstitutes8 UserGuidefortheIMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessRanking14 OverallandBreakdownDigitalRankings14 DigitalCompetitivenessCountryProfiles15 Strivingtowardsbeingadigitalnationintheeraofartificialintelligence18 Analysisofresults26 The2023IMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessRanking38 Methodologyinanutshell40 WhatistheIMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessRanking?41 The2023IMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessRankings42 Populationsgreaterthan20million42 Populationslessthan20million42 GDPpercapitagreaterthan$20,00043 GDPpercapitalessthan$20,00043 Europe-MiddleEast-Africa44 Asia-Pacific45 TheAmericas45 Knowledge46 Technology47 FutureReadiness48 FactorRankings-5yearsoverview50 Sub-factorRankings52 IMDWorldDigitalCompetitivenessCountryProfiles53 AppendicesandSources182 NotesandSourcesbyCriteria186 FactorI:Knowledge187 FactorII:Technology190 FactorIII:FutureReadiness192 IndextoCriteria194 CompetitivenessCountryProfiles Argentina54 Australia56 Austria58 Bahrain60 Belgium62 Botswana64 Brazil66 Bulgaria68 Canada70 Chile72 China74 Colombia76 Croatia78 Cyprus80 CzechRepublic82 Denmark84 Estonia86 Finland88 France90 Germany92 Greece94 HongKongSAR96 Hungary98 Iceland100 India102 Indonesia104 Ireland106 Israel108 Italy110 Japan112 Jordan114 Kazakhstan116 KoreaRep118 Kuwait120 Latvia122 Lithuania124 Luxembourg126 Malaysia128 Mexico130 Mongolia132 Netherlands134 NewZealand136 Norway138 Peru140 Philippines142 Poland144 Portugal146 Qatar148 Romania150 SaudiArabia152 Singapore154 SlovakRepublic156 Slovenia158 SouthAfrica160 Spain162 Sweden164 Switzerland166 Taiwan,China168 Thailand170 Turkey172 UAE174 UnitedKingdom176 USA178 Venezuelav TheIMDWorldCompetitivenessCenter Formorethanthirtyyears,theIMDWorldCompetitivenessCenterhaspioneeredresearchonhowcountriesandcompaniescompetetolaythefoundationsforsustainablevaluecreation.ThecompetitivenessofnationsisprobablyoneofthemostsignificantdevelopmentsinmodernmanagementandIMDiscommittedtoleadingthefield.