The world's developing and emerging economies are failing to fully exploit the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) to drive social and economic transformation and catch up with more advanced nations.

This is according to the Global Information Technology Report 2015 (GITR), co-published by the World Economic Forum, Insead and Cornell University, with the support of Strategy&, formerly Booz & Company and Cisco, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Data from the report's Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which benchmarks 143 economies in terms of their capacity to prepare for, use and leverage ICTs, suggest that the gap between the best and worst performing economies is widening.

Those in the top 10 per cent have seen twice the level of improvement since 2012 as those in the bottom 10 per cent.

This demonstrates the scale of the challenge facing developing and emerging nations as they seek to develop the infrastructure, institutions and skills needed to reap the full benefits of ICTs, as only 39pc of the global population enjoys access to the Internet despite the fact that more than half now owns a mobile phone.

The 2015 Network Readiness Index ranks three GCC countries in the top 30 list globally for the third consecutive year, and another two in top 50.

The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman, ranked 23rd, 27th, 30th, 35th and 42nd respectively, demonstrating that they continue to embrace ICT to boost their country's competitiveness.

In contrast, countries in the Levant and North Africa still lag behind and face challenges to fully leverage ICT.

"The NRI of Bahrain remains practically unchanged in this year's GITR (29th in 2014 vs 30th in 2015)," said Insead Global Indices executive director and co-editor of the report Bruno Lanvin.

"Yet, a closer look at pillar performance levels shows that the negative impact of lower affordability (Bahrain lost 41 ranks worldwide on that pillar - from 25th to 66th) has been largely compensated by a significant improvement (17 ranks, from 58th to 41st) on the 'skills' front. Progress in adult literacy rates, and scientific education are bearing fruit." - TradeArabia News Service