Watch:
In its second edition, Ericsson’ s Networked Society City Index ranked 25 of the world’ s largest cities according to their ability to use ICT for social, economic and environmental benefits. The top three cities in the index ‘” Seoul, Singapore and Stockholm ‘” have successfully met many social, economic and environmental targets by making extensive investments in ICT, Ericsson noted.
The Networked Society City Index is a framework that describes the development status of 25 cities worldwide in terms of ICT maturity and triple bottom line benefits. In addition, citywide ICT initiatives have been studied for the selected cities. From the quantitative data and qualitative analysis the following conclusions can be made:
- There is a strong connection between ICT maturity & triple bottom line benefits
- Increased ICT maturity enhances the triple bottom line leverage
- Cities depend on smart initiatives to capitalize on the ICT infrastructure
The selected cities are based on the United Nations’ list of largest cities. With the additional capitals of the two leading nations’ in the ICT development index: Stockholm and Singapore. The addition is made to ensure that cities with strong ICT development are captured in the study. A few extra adjustments were made to ensure a representative list of cities:
- Maximum of one city per country (with exception for China, India and the U.S. where two cities have been included)
- Ensuring a geographical spread (implying that Sydney and Johannesburg are included despite their size)
- Exclusion of two cities due to lack of data (Kinshasa and Lima)
Index Construction
The Networked City Index framework illustrates the socioeconomic effects of ICT on a) Society b) People and c) Business in two measurable categories ICT Maturity and ICT Derived Benefits:
- ICT Maturity – The index logic for ICT maturity ranking is similar to the existing country-based ICT Development Index to ease comparisons between countries and cities. It includes the three dimensions ICT Infrastructure, ICT Readiness and ICT Usage (note that the ICT infrastructure relates to ICT environment but with an increased focus on infrastructure com ponents).
- ICT Derived Benefits – The ICT Derived Benefits are measured across the three dimensions covering Social, Economic and Environmental benefits, to reflect triple bottom line effects derived from ICT.
The Interactive Tool
The Networked Society City Index interactive tool lets you explore and compare the effects ICT has on society, people and business – in major cities all over the world. Learn about a city, drag-and-drop two cities and compare, or discover initiatives happening in the cities right now.
More info
- Networked Society City Index
- Networked Society City Index interactive tool
- Download City Index Report
- Download City Index Report part 2