China overtakes India in IT competitiveness

A study of Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on the information technology (IT) industry competitiveness of countries around the world released on Thursday shows that China, which had lagged behind in 2008, has overtaken India this year.

China moved up 11 notches to 37th position from last year’s 50th position with a score of 36.7 points while India climbed up just four notches to 44th position with a score of 34.1.
The study, now in its third year, assesses and compares the information technology (IT) industry environments of 66 economies, to determine the extent to which they enable IT sector competitiveness.

Despite falling behind China, Keshav S Dhakad, chairman of the BSA India Committee, said India had maintained its ability to develop strong talent and maintain a conducive business environment.

“This year’s ranking is indicative of the progressive initiatives taken by the government and the industry on human capital and support for IT development,” he said.

Within Asia-Pacific, India ranked among the top 10 countries with Australia, Singapore and Japan in the top three positions.

The study said though India continued to do well in enabling an open, transparent business environment and development of sound IT infrastructure, it still need to improve its R&D environment.

“Challenges for China and India remain balancing large pools of skilled IT personnel with progress in IT infrastructure,” says the report.