Uruguay, a benchmark in the digital development index
The Information and Telecommunication Technologies (ICT) Development Index, IDI for its acronym, was presented on December 15th, 2023, in response to the demands by the members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for generating a tool that could help them assess the level of digital development in countries.
Based on a new methodology developed inclusively and iteratively, the IDI 2023 covers 169 world economies. Uruguay presents a general score of 87.1, way above the international average (73 points). In America, the leader is the United States with 96.6, followed by Chile with 90.7 points.
On the other hand, Canada is third in digital development with 87.2 points, barely above Uruguay. Moreover, Uruguay's levels are similar to the average of European countries.
As highlighted by the organization, the IDI confirms the relation between general development and digital development and evidences the deep division that persists between developed and non-developed countries.
About IDI
IDI is a reference index restructured in 2023, after a six-year pause. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) explicitly requests “not to make comparisons on previous versions, as this report is the first edition of the new IDI and it is not possible to analyze a temporary series. It is important to emphasize that the results must not be compared to the previous ones as methodologies are completely different”.
ITU specifies that “the new methodology is the result of an inclusive and iterative process guided by Resolution 131, which included the participation of members and member States of the Group of Experts on Telecommunications/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the Group of Experts on ICT Household Indicators (EGH). The limited availability and quality of data limited the selection of the indicators included in the index”.