The United States, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and Singapore, in descending order, ranked as the best digitally competitive countries in the world in 2021.

Then they were located: Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

The positions are based on the World Classification of Digital Competitiveness prepared by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), based in Switzerland.

To begin with, the IMD highlights that digital competitiveness implies the central role of new technologies in the transformation of government and business processes, as well as in the way in which society interacts.

Therefore, this competitiveness reflects the adoption of new technologies to provide solutions that lead to long-term value creation.

Such solutions can be, for example, the development of an innovative process that allows companies to improve their services to customers.

Digital competitiveness ranking 2020 and 2021

Value creation, in the latter example, may arise from an organization’s better understanding of the needs of its customers and / or the value of its products in the eyes of customers.

In any case, adds the IMD, value creation brings long-term benefits to all stakeholders.

Digital competitiveness

The disturbing pandemic conditions of the last year and a half have forced many companies to change their business models.

Such a shift has required them to show flexibility and speed in their responses to change and new opportunities, and has led to a transformation of these organizations’ relationships with their clients.

In this context, preparation, particularly the level of social adaptability and business agility, has been of utmost importance.

Preparation, importantly, depends in part on the effectiveness of talent management and the production and acquisition of knowledge within an ecosystem conducive to innovation.

The 2021 WDCR, in fact, highlights the prominence of preparation, talent and knowledge.

In this year’s results, the IMD identifies three general trends:

• Countries in the top positions in the ranking foster the continuous development of a knowledge-intensive economy that is capable of exploring, adopting and producing digital technologies at scale, innovating the way companies and government operate and their interactions with society
• More specifically, to varying degrees, leading economies maintain their digital competitiveness through their future-proof performance, particularly by remaining adaptable and agile.
• Its digital competitiveness also benefits from strong performance in talent and training and education.