Swedes Top Tech List

Add “strongest IT nation” to Sweden’s list of technological achievements. Already identified as the “Web-savviest country,” the nation has also achieved the top ranking on the 2003 IDC/World Times Information Society Index (ISI) for the fourth consecutive year.

Sweden’s 2.67 million active Internet users helped propel the country to the strongest position, taking full advantage of their advanced information, computer, Internet, and social infrastructures. The ISI uses tracking data from 55 countries, measuring them according to their ability to access and absorb information and information technology.

“Throughout the dramatic changes in global markets and the IT sector over the past several years, Sweden has demonstrated a consistent commitment toward developing for the future through technology,” said Goran Eriksson, director, Los Angeles Branch Office, Invest in Sweden Agency.

A whopping 69 percent of the country has access to the Internet, and according to Jupiter Research (a unit of this site’s corporate parent), Sweden has the longest online tenure, the highest home broadband penetration, and the highest percentage of the population that shops online.

More than half (59 percent) of Swedish citizens said they had more than three years of experience using the Internet, compared with 25 percent in Northern Europe (UK, France, and Germany), and 20 percent in Southern Europe (Spain and Italy).

Of the more than 4,800 respondents to Jupiter’s September 2002 user survey, 29 percent of Swedes indicated that they had broadband at home, and 64 percent are online shoppers. Jupiter’s study also revealed that 72 percent of Swedish Internet users are under age 45, and 59 percent are male.