[IP] Re: WORTH READING -- Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet - New York Times

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

________________________________________
From: Michael R. Nelson [mnelson@pobox.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 2:56 PM
To: David Farber
Cc: markoff@nyt.com
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   WORTH READING -- Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet - New York Times

Many of the comments from your readers seem to be mixing apples and oranges.  The World Economic Forum tries to assess how able countries are to use the power of ICTs--not the extent of broadband penetration, where US lags far behind.  Another useful study, which in many ways is more nuanced and rigorous than the WEF study, was released recently and can be found at http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/global/IndustryThemes/ConnectivityScorecard/ConnectivityScorecard.htm

Michael R. Nelson
Visiting Professor, Internet Studies
Communication, Culture and Technology
Georgetown University
mnelson@pobox.com

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/global/IndustryThemes/ConnectivityScorecard/ConnectivityScorecard.htm

David Farber <dave@farber.net> wrote:

________________________________________
From: David P. Reed [dpreed@reed.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 1:38 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet - New York Times

Dave, the following sentences from the report's exec summary suggests
something entirely different from the headline in the NYT.

"The NRI aims at measuring economies' capacity to fully leverage ICT
for increased competitiveness and and development, building on a
mixture of hard data collected by well-respected international
organizations, such as the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), the World Bank, and the United Nations, and survey data from
the Executive Opinion Survey conducted annually by the World
Economic Forum in each of the economies included in the Report."


in other words, citizens and public good doesn't matter. What matters
is business. The business of countries is business. :-)

"The Networked Readiness Framework ... assesses:
- the presence of an ICT-friendly and conducive environment, by
looking at a number of features of the broad business environment,
some regulatory aspects, and the soft and hard infrastructure for ICT;

- the level of ICT readiness and preparation to use ICT of the three
main national stakeholders - individuals, the business sector, and
the government; and

- the actual use of ICT by the above three stakeholders."

In other words the ranking is similar to the ranking of cities in the US
from the point of view of businesses. Where are the tax breaks, is the
citizenry willing to toil hard for low wages to enrich distant
investors, etc.

Nothing about the Internet's ability to empower the end users. Lots
about how ICT empowers the overlords. :-)


David Farber wrote:
> ________________________________________
> From: John Markoff [markoff@nyt.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 12:43 PM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet - New York Times
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> News judgement is a tricky thing. Adam dispute mine, but I thought I
> would pass along a portion of the official press release from WEF
> (which I just saw)...
>
> Note the bullet points which indicate what they thought was the most
> salient news in the report......
>
>
> John Markoff
>
> Matthias Lüfkens, Associate Director, Tel.: +41 (0) 22 869 1212 - matthias.luefkens@weforum.or
> g
>
> French German Italian 日本語 Spanish Portuguese 中文
>
> DENMARK TOPS THE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REPORT 2007-2008
>
> • The US moves up three places to fourth place
> • The Republic of Korea jumps into the top ten, placing ninth
> • Produced in cooperation with INSEAD, the Report provides
> comparative information for business and governments
> • Report highlights, summary, country profiles, quotes, maps and
> more at: http://www.weforum.org/gitr
> Geneva, Switzerland, 9 April 2008 - Denmark is the most networked
> economy in the world, followed by Sweden and Switzerland, according to
> The Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008, released today by
> the World Economic Forum. Among the top ten, the Republic of Korea (9)
> and, to a lesser extent, the United States (4) post the most notable
> improvements (moving up 10 and 3 positions, respectively).
>
> “The successful experience of the Nordic countries, Singapore, the
> United States or Korea shows that a coherent government vision on the
> importance of ICT, coupled with an early focus on education and
> innovation, are key not only for spurring networked readiness, but
> also to lay the foundations for sustainable growth,� said Irene Mia,
> Senior Economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the World
> Economic Forum and Co-Editor of the Report.
>
> Published for the seventh consecutive year with record coverage of 127
> economies worldwide, the Report has become the world’s most
> comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact
> of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 9, 2008, at 6:54 AM, David Farber wrote:
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Adam Peake [ajp@glocom.ac.jp]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 9:16 AM
> To: David Farber
> Subject: Re: [IP] Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet - New York
> Times
>
> The headline and opening paragraph are misleading. The study's not
> about the Internet/Internet infrastructure, as the story goes on to
> explain it includes a range of economic and other data
> (
> choosedatavariable.cfm>
> some of the questions look a little weak.)
>
> Odd, and can see why you'd be skeptical.
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>
>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/technology/09internet.html
>>
>> By JOHN MARKOFF
>>
>> Published: April 9, 2008
>>
>> SAN FRANCISCO -- Contradicting earlier studies, conventional wisdom
>> and politicians' rhetoric, European researchers say that the
>> Internet infrastructure of the United States is one of the world's
>> best and getting better.
>>
>>
>
> snip
>
>
>> Some Internet industry veterans were skeptical of the positive
>> claims about the United States compared with the rest of the world.
>> "My gut feeling is that we don't have the type of deployment you
>> have abroad," said David J. Farber, an Internet pioneer and a
>> professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. "If you
>> are looking at broadband, we have a lot of problems. We are slow as
>> molasses in deploying the next generation."
>>
>>
>
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>
>
>
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>


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