On September 28, the Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD) announced the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2022 (DCR), which placed Taiwan 11^th out of 63 major countries and economies in the world. This was Taiwan’s second-best ranking on record, reaching the top three in eight criteria, as well as ninth place in the newly added criterion, “Government cyber security capacity.”

1. Taiwan ranked top three in eight criteria globally

In this year’s ranking, Taiwan reached the top three in eight criteria, which was one more than in 2021. Out of the eight criteria, Taiwan topped the list in “Total R&D personnel per capita,” “Mobile Broadband subscribers,” and “IT and media stock market capitalization.”

Taiwan ranked second in “Use of big data and analytics” and third in “Higher education achievement,” “Total expenditure on R&D (%),” “High-tech exports (%),” and “Agility of companies.”

These results demonstrate Taiwan’s efforts to develop infrastructure and research and development applications, while promoting digital transformation.

2. Taiwan’s ranking in the “Knowledge,” “Technology,” and “Future readiness” factors

The IMD ranking uses three factors, nine sub-factors, and 54 criteria to assess a country’s capacity and readiness for adapting to, exploring, and using digital transformation. The three factors are “Knowledge,” “Technology,” and “Future readiness.”

(1)The “Knowledge” factor reflects the assessed countries’ ability to learn new technology. Taiwan ranked 18th globally, topping the criterion “Total R&D personnel per capita” and placing third in “Higher education achievement” and “Total expenditure on R&D (%).”

This confirms Taiwan’s dedication to higher education, and research and development talent cultivation. Taiwan’s ranking in “Pupil–teacher ratio (tertiary education)” and “R&D productivity by publication” both increased by three places compared to 2021.

(2)The “Technology” factor mainly assesses countries’ ability to develop innovative digital technologies. Taiwan ranked sixth globally, topping the criteria “IT and media stock market capitalization” and “Mobile Broadband subscribers,” and showing improvement in “Development & application of tech,” “Scientific research legislation,” “Intellectual property rights,” “Funding for technological development,” “Banking and financial services,” “Country credit rating,” “Communications technology,” and “High-tech exports (%).”

This illustrates the significant results achieved by the government’s promotion of programs relating to national digital transformation, reinforcement of Taiwan’s technological capacity and information and communication infrastructure, and active assistance of startup development.

(3)The “Future readiness” factor mainly assesses countries’ level of digital transformation. Taiwan ranked eighth globally, placing second in “Use of big data and analytics,” third in “Agility of companies,” and showing improvement in “Internet retailing,” “Use of big data and analytics,” “Knowledge transfer,” and “Public–private partnerships.”

These results show that Taiwan’s promotion of digital transformation has gradually made progress.

In the newly added criterion “Government cyber security capacity” under the “Future readiness” factor, Taiwan ranked ninth in the first-ever assessment, which indicates the importance of cyber security issues stemming from the country’s unique situation. After the government’s active response and implementation of various measures, citizens felt confident about the government’s overall cyber security capacity.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs said that the government will review the IMD’s report and evaluate Taiwan’s digital development advantages and disadvantages according to its ranking in each criterion, which will be used as a reference when planning relevant strategies. In the future, the government will actively promote national digital transformation by shaping Taiwan’s digital operation capacity through innovative ideas and technology, to enhance the country’s digital national power.