On a global ranking of ICT usage, Jamaica has improved its performance in the latest ICD Development Index published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The country is positioned at 97 out of 166 countries in the recent update on the status of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development.

On Monday, 25 November, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published its Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 in which it highlights key technology and developments worldwide and tracks the cost and affordability of telecommunications services as of the end of 2013.

In Measuring the Information Society (MIS) report, Jamaica has an IDI of 4.26 moving from 3.68 and a ranking of 93 in the last report .

The report includes the results of the organisation’s review of information and communications Technology (ICT) development globally, through its ICT Development Index. The IDI includes 11 indicators organised under three sub-indices: ICT access, ICT use and ICT skills.

Thirteen Caribbean countries were among the 166 economies assessed: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The majority of Caribbean countries slipped positions since the 2012 IDI exercise. The exceptions were Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, which improved their positions in the index, whilst Guyana and Saint Lucia, retained its 2012 ranking.

But most Caribbean countries’ IDI scores improved compared with the previous year, which was generally the trend across the set of countries.

It could be that the decline in ranking that many Caribbean countries experienced could be attributed to the marked improvements that other countries worldwide have made.

Read more here