Higher Ed Combats U.S. Info Tech Decline, Says WEF
- By Paul McCloskey
- 04/02/07
The United States is falling behind European countries and Singapore in exploiting information technology, according to a report last week by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The United States dropped from first to seventh place in the WEF's annual "Networked Readiness Index," the Reuters news agency reported.
However, the decline might have been steeper if not for the "primacy" of the U.S. higher education system, the WEF said, as well as the cooperation between U.S. higher education and industry and the availability of venture capital. Instead, the U.S. decline is mainly due to the deterioration of the U.S. political and regulatory environment, according to the WEF report.
The top slot in the index went to Denmark, which had an excellent regulatory environment and clear government leadership and vision in application of computer technology, according to the report.
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About the Author
Paul McCloskey is contributing editor of Syllabus.