Australia’s digital competitiveness has slipped two places, according to an annual report released by the World Economic Forum.
The Global Information Technology Report 2016 features input from 160 partner institutes contributing their research.
Innes Willox, chief executive of Australian partner institute the Australian Industry Group, said Australia compared poorly to its advanced economy peers.
“These countries (dominated by Singapore, northern Europe and the US) currently lead the way in embedding and leveraging digital technologies,” he said in a statement, adding that there was a big gap between the top seven and the rest.
“Critically, they are characterised by a business sector that is embracing new digital technologies and innovations as core parts of operations.”
Australia fell from 16th to 18th place globally, overtaken by Iceland and New Zealand, and was significantly down from a ninth place ranking in 2004.
“Australia ranks well on aspects of infrastructure, use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by individuals and general ICT readiness,” said Willox.
“However, use of ICT and digital innovation by businesses are lagging.”