According to the World Economic Forum's "network readiness index" Kuwait dropped eight places from number 46 to 54. The UAE (29) led the way in terms of information and technology among the Gulf countries, with Qatar (36) making the most inroads this year, but Bahrain (50) and others suffered as well (LINK).
Kuwait is now the lowest ranked among the Gulf countries.
Click HERE for Country Rankings.
Click HERE for WEF's Global Information Technology Report.
An excerpt:
The Gulf Arab countries may be rich, but when it comes to exploiting technology to be more competitive, they're falling behind rivals in Asia, Europe and Africa.The Gulf countries consume a lot of technology: Internet and mobile phone penetration is high. But several factors pull down their scores, including poor educational systems. There's also a shortage of scientists and engineers. And bureaucracy is suffocating while judicial independence is lacking.
The Arab technological slide sends worrying signals about the future of the currently booming economies, which include Dubai, now considered the fastest-growing city in the world.
Adoption of the latest technology is critical for fast-developing countries like those in the Persian Gulf, where leaders are trying to diversify beyond oil and gas exports.
Gulf investors are too interested in a quick profit, and they're not building institutions that allow technology to flourish.The technological slide has allowed poorer countries to leapfrog the wealthy Gulf states. For instance, in 2006 Mexico and Jamaica jumped ahead of Kuwait and Bahrain, both of which are far wealthier on a per-capita basis.
Kuwait's poor performance stems from its handouts of government jobs to Kuwaitis. The practice has diverted money from education and infrastructure, said Kuwaiti economist Jassem al-Saadoun.
Comments (9)
do u think if they EVEN thought about introducing broadband or maybe, JUST MAYBE, better technical education in school that we would be in the top tier!!!!!
i hope they realize that this hurts our economy -_-
Posted by Laialy_q8 | April 21, 2007 7:50 AM
Posted on April 21, 2007 07:50
اتساءل ان كانت هذه اخبار وتقارير كهذه تصل الى مكاتب المسؤولين واصحاب القرار.
اعتقد ان الفقرة البسيطة التي اقتطعتها من حديث جاسم السعدون تحكي المشكلة، ولكننا نريد من يتحدث عن الحلول هذه الايام وربما بإسهاب!
دمت بود
ومرحبا بعودتك، ولو انها متأخرة
Posted by عـذبـي | April 21, 2007 7:51 AM
Posted on April 21, 2007 07:51
This is a very sad state of affairs for Kuwait when even Bahrain which receives Kuwait aid for its infrastructure projects is ahead of it.
Posted by H. al-SEIF | April 21, 2007 12:37 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 12:37
Just a quick question off the subject, how do I get listed on http://safat.kuwaitblogs.com/?
I read a post by you and I was wondering. Excuse my inconvenience.
Posted by confashion | April 21, 2007 3:22 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 15:22
Confashion - Click the following link for the application: http://www.kuwaitblogs.com/addblog.html
Might take a few weeks depending on how active and for how long your blog has been in existence.
Good luck.
Posted by amer | April 21, 2007 6:01 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 18:01
Thank you so much for your help. :)
Posted by Confashion | April 21, 2007 11:28 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 23:28
Hip Hip horay:p not surprised honestly, enshalah to the bottom of the list, then we should do shit about the countries situation!!
Posted by Qaiss | April 22, 2007 10:35 AM
Posted on April 22, 2007 10:35
everything you set in bold type is exactly what needs to be emphasized..
i think the most important is the poor educational system, bureaucracy and the judicial system
Posted by snookie | April 23, 2007 10:37 AM
Posted on April 23, 2007 10:37
Don't forget the driving. As much as i want to blame the motorists, i have to ask, "why aren't the police enforcing the traffic laws?"
Posted by Solymar | April 24, 2007 8:25 PM
Posted on April 24, 2007 20:25