Ireland ranked 12th when it came to talent and human affinity with cloud, but 23rd when it came to ecosystem adoption.
Ireland ranks 16th in a list of 76 of the world’s countries for cloud development and innovation. The list was compiled by MIT Technology Review Insights and IT consultancy business Infosys Cobalt.
The Global Cloud Ecosystem Index rated and ranked each of the world’s major economies according to the quality and availability of their cloud services. It also evaluated the regulatory frameworks and digital practices that promote the use of cloud models in the public and private sector for each country featured.
Singapore, Finland and Sweden topped the list, with Denmark and Switzerland completing the top five. The UK ranked in 11th place just five places ahead of Ireland at 16.
The countries were given a score out of 10 with the highest score of 8.5 was awarded to Singapore and Finland. Ireland received 7.7, the same score as the US and Austria.
All of the countries in the top 34 fell under the ‘high income’ bracket, with Malaysia in 35th place – the highest ‘upper middle income’ country to feature in the ranking. Ukraine, in at number 43, was the first ‘lower middle income’ nation to appear. Low-income country Ethiopia was in last place at 76.
For Ireland’s ranking, the index highlighted the Irish Government’s February announcement regarding its 2030 National Digital Strategy. The updated plan includes further 5G network coverage as well as provisions to ensure that all businesses and households have will have access to gigabit broadband by 2028.
While Ireland’s overall ranking was 16, it performed better in certain areas when it came to the breakdown of each area. It ranked in 12th place for talent and human affinity with cloud, ahead of New Zealand and France but behind Norway.
Its infrastructure was ranked 15th, as did its security and assurance. Singapore only came in in 17th place for security and assurance.
Ecosystem adoption brought Ireland down, with it scoring a modest 23 behind Taiwan and ahead of Germany.
The index and its findings are based on research conducted between November 2021 and February 2022.
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