International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI) : executive summary

This report introduces the International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI), which evaluates the digital performance of EU countries and the EU as a whole, in comparison to 15 other countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States). The I-DESI benchmarks the development of the digital economy and society in Europe against top world peers so as to identify room for improvement. The results show that the top countries in Europe are also leading in the global stage. The three top performing countries (Sweden, Denmark and Finland) are closely followed by Korea (Rep.), United States and Japan. The EU as a whole scores high in three out of the five main dimensions (Use of the Internet, Human Capital and Integration of Digital Technology). However, the results also show that the EU is behind the non-EU top performers in the other two dimensions (Connectivity and Digital Public Services) and on specific individual indicators. Moreover, there are substantial differences between EU member states concerning both score and progress over time (I-DESI 2014 vs. I-DESI 2015). Europe is progressing to slowly bridge this gap, which is pivotal to realise the potential of a Digital Single Market.