Surfshark has published its 2021 Digital Quality of Life Index. Countries are assessed on five variables:
Here is the top 10 ranking for the overal score:
I have created a map to visualise more easily the gap between countries.
Belgium has the worst score in Northwest Europe in part because of its low affordability (both broadband and mobile Internet are much more expensive than in neighbouring countries) and one of the very worst scores in online services (73rd out of 110 countries). After considering it it is true that e-government lacks user-friendliness. But the biggest issue is that there are so many levels of government in Belgium (federal, region, community, province, municipality) and while the federal e-services are not bad, most documents like ID cards, passports, driving licences, building permits and so on are delivered by municipalities, which each have their own unique websites, and very few of them offer e-services.
Interestingly China ranks 3rd for the quality of the Internet, behind South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. In other words China has overtaken all Western countries in that regard.
The US distinguishes itself for having the best e-government. But when it comes to electronic security the winner is... Greece! That index includes cybersecurity (based on the national cyber security index, where indeed Greece comes on top) and data protection laws.
The best electronic infrastructure is in Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands.
Denmark and Israel are well ahead of everyone else when it comes to Internet affordability.
- Internet affordability
- Internet quality
- Electronic infrastructure
- Electronic security
- Electronic government
Here is the top 10 ranking for the overal score:
- Denmark
- South Korea
- Finland
- Israel
- United States
- Singapore
- France
- Switzerland
- Germany
- United Kingdom
I have created a map to visualise more easily the gap between countries.
Belgium has the worst score in Northwest Europe in part because of its low affordability (both broadband and mobile Internet are much more expensive than in neighbouring countries) and one of the very worst scores in online services (73rd out of 110 countries). After considering it it is true that e-government lacks user-friendliness. But the biggest issue is that there are so many levels of government in Belgium (federal, region, community, province, municipality) and while the federal e-services are not bad, most documents like ID cards, passports, driving licences, building permits and so on are delivered by municipalities, which each have their own unique websites, and very few of them offer e-services.
Interestingly China ranks 3rd for the quality of the Internet, behind South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. In other words China has overtaken all Western countries in that regard.
The US distinguishes itself for having the best e-government. But when it comes to electronic security the winner is... Greece! That index includes cybersecurity (based on the national cyber security index, where indeed Greece comes on top) and data protection laws.
The best electronic infrastructure is in Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands.
Denmark and Israel are well ahead of everyone else when it comes to Internet affordability.