Digital ID advances drive Denmark to top of competitiveness ranking

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has released the 2022 edition of its World Digital Competitiveness Ranking report, with rankings significantly influenced by the maturity of digital identity ecosystems.

Published by IMD’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC), the document suggests digitally competitive economies consider cybersecurity measures a top priority for both the public and private sectors.

At the same time, the report advises economies interested in developing a solid roadmap for digitalization to invest equally in talent, training and education, scientific concentration and R&D.

The recurrent research efforts, ongoing since 2017, also provide a list of 63 countries ranked by how well their economies are exploring new tech according to 54 criteria.

“This ranking describes the importance of national factors in explaining the digital transformation of companies and the adoption of digital practices by citizens,” says Arturo Bris, director of the WCC.

“Digital nations result from a combination of digital talent, digital regulation, data governance, digital attitudes and the availability of capital.”

For context, this year’s report introduces two new criteria, both supplied by the Digital Society Project: “government cybersecurity capacity” and “privacy protection by law,” respectively.

This year, Denmark takes the top spot, dethroning the U.S., which had to settle for second place for the first time since the ranking was introduced. According to the WCC, Denmark’s triumph is primarily due to its outstanding performance in future readiness.

Also, Sweden remains in 3rd place, and Singapore gains one position, ranking 4th. Switzerland, on the other hand, moves up from 6th to 5th, thanks in part to its advancing digital ID projects.

“Switzerland is on its way to becoming a fully developed digital nation, with satisfactory digital infrastructure and regulation, data governance and digital attitudes,” Bris explains.

“A key success factor for the future, though, will be the introduction of a digital identity program in the country. The top nations in the ranking, such as Denmark and Singapore, are already marking the way in this sense.”

The IMD study was conducted in association with the industry association digitalswitzerland and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).

Article Topics

data privacy  |  Denmark  |  digital economy  |  digital identity  |  financial services  |  government services