THE Philippines slipped 10 notches in the 2018 World Digital Competitiveness (WDC) Ranking, according to the AIM Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness (AIM RSN PCC) and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
In a statement on Tuesday, AIM and IMD said the Philippines’ ranking slipped to 56th out of 63 countries in 2018 from 46th in 2017 in the WDC, an offshoot of the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY).
“Among Asia- Pacific economies, the Philippines ranked 12th among 14 countries. The WDC ranking was topped by the United States, followed by Singapore (2nd), Sweden (3rd), Denmark (4th) and Switzerland (5th),” AIM and IMD said.
The countries were evaluated using 50 indicators spread across three factors: 1) Knowledge, 2) Technology, and 3) Future Readiness.
The Philippines’ highest-ranked factor was Knowledge at 50th. The Knowledge factor measures the know-how necessary to build and adapt to new technologies.
The country’s performance was driven by the Talent sub-factor, which is composed of mostly perceptions-based indicators, at 48th.
However, the country ranked low on Total Expenditure on R&D as Percent of GDP (58th), Total R&D Personnel per Capita (56th), Total Public Expenditure on Education as Share of GDP (58th), and Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Tertiary Education (57th).
In the Future Readiness factor, meanwhile, the Philippines was ranked 52nd. This measures the country’s level of preparedness to exploit and adapt to digital transformation.
The country posted its highest rank in this indicator in Business Agility at 31st. This sub-sector is composed mostly of perceptions-based indicators.
However, its two other sub-factors, Adaptive Attitudes and IT Integration, were ranked 60th and 57th, respectively.
Technology was the lowest-ranked factor at 58th. This low ranking was mostly driven by the Regulatory Framework sub-factor, particularly the Starting a Business and Enforcing Contracts indicators, where the Philippines ranked 61st.
The low rank of the country in the Technology factor was also driven by the Technological Framework sub-factor, specifically the Communications Technology and Internet Bandwidth Speed indicators, where the Philippine placed 62nd and 61st, respectively.