The Executive Yuan’s Office of Science and Technology announced today that Taiwan was ranked No. 16 out of 75 countries in the inaugural Inclusive Internet Index, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research and analysis division of The Economist Group.

The EIU benchmarked countries based on internet adoption rates and digital inclusiveness, and highlighted key factors in promoting digital inclusiveness for governments to consider. The overall rank is calculated based on 46 indicators across four main categories: availability, affordability, relevance and readiness.

Of the 46 indicators, Taiwan was ranked No. 1 for female access to the internet, average fixed broadband latency and average mobile latency. The Executive Yuan's Gender Equality Committee was especially concerned about the digital divide issue with regards to women.

Office of Science and Technology Executive Secretary Kuo Yau-hwang said, “The Executive Yuan is extremely concerned about the digital divide, and began promoting plans to bridge that divide beginning in 2002 to create equal opportunity access to the digital world. The EIU’s latest report shows that Taiwan’s efforts to ensure gender equality in internet access have been recognized by the international community.” And as the EIU’s report said, “Taiwan, Spain and the U.K. lead the world in ensuring that women can connect to the internet.”

Taiwan also shared the top ranking for 17 indicators including e-finance content, government initiatives to make Wi-Fi available, availability of basic information in the local language, existence of national broadband strategy, existence of government e-inclusion strategy, and 3G network coverage.

Date: 2017-05-12
Source: Department of Information Services, Executive Yuan