Building the Knowledge Society - Department of Communications ...

28 Building the Knowledge Society Information Society CommissionThe two other most commonly used composite indices in this area are the Harvard NetworkedReadiness Index (NRI), which ranked Ireland 19th in 2001, and Economist Intelligence Unit’seReadiness Index, which ranked Ireland 15th in 2002. In the 2002 Forfás eBusiness Monitor,Ireland’s performance on all 3 indices is the poorest of the countries reviewed. 20In an EU context, Ireland ranks 9th of the fourteen countries that are rated, behind Sweden,Finland, Denmark, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Belgium – Figure 2.1.Figure 2.1 Ireland’s Information Society Performance in EU14 Perspective1412EIU 2002 IDC 2001 NRI 20011086420SFinDK UK NL D A B IRL F I E P ELSource: VariousThe common feature to our performance on all 3 indices is the relative maturity of theunderlying information infrastructure and the low penetration of broadband networkingconnectivity relative to leading countries.2.2\ BroadbandGiven its significance as the underlying information infrastructure, progress with provisionof broadband services in Ireland is cause for concern.An OECD study produced in October 2001 ranked Ireland 27th of 30 countries in termsof penetration of broadband technologies – Figure 2.2. 21Forfás is now benchmarking our broadband performance on a quarterly basis against 19countries (EU15, Canada, Japan, Korea, USA). The November 2002 update shows no appreciableimprovement, with Ireland being the worst performing country of the benchmarking group forbroadband take-up. Indeed, with initial DSL offerings made available by Eircom and Esat fromonly May 2002, we must recognise that we are 2-3 years behind leading competitor countries.The price of DSL services in Ireland is also among the highest of the benchmarking group.The rate of broadband take-up in Ireland is currently around 0.1 percent. Internationally,take-up rates among the benchmarking group range from 1 to 6 percent, with Korea havinga significantly higher take-up at over 16 percent.20 The following leading e-business economies were selected for comparison purposes in that exercise:Australia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.21 The Development of Broadband Access in OECD Countries, OECD 2001