Future Member States Stream Ahead in IT Survey

A new survey has shown that the European Union’s accession countries are well placed to boost their economies by using information technology. In the World Economic Forum's "Global Information Technology Report," which ranks 102 countries as to how well each economy is prepared to use IT to enhance growth, many future members scored higher than the current EU 15. Estonia (25th), Malta (27th), Slovenia (30th) and the Czech Republic (33rd) are all in better shape than Greece, which ranked the lowest among current EU members at 34th. The report singled out Estonia for special praise, saying that "its performance is enhanced by an excellent political and regulatory framework for ICT" (information and communications technology). The lowest-ranked accession country was Poland, 47th on the list. Overall, the EU did well in the survey, with three Nordic countries in the top five. Finland is ranked third, Sweden fourth and Denmark fifth. (EUobserver.com)