U.S., Swiss Gain in Internet Rankings

(MoneyWatch)  The World Economic Forum isn't usually thought of as a source biased toward a particular nationality. Working with Insead, a respected business school in Europe that draws students from all over the world, it has produced its Global Information Technology Report - a report card on the Internet connection technology.

This year, the report shows Switzerland and the United States inching up the global rankings. Switzerland rose to No. 3 from No. 5 while the U.S. gained to fourth place from seventh. Locked secure in the top two slots were Denmark and Sweden as the most wired.

The report studied 127 countries using the same criteria it has over several years:

"...how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups -- individuals, businesses and governments -- to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available."

Meanwhile, Finland,Singapore and the Netherlands slipped out of the top six and the U.K. dropped out of the top ten altogether.