Overview

Belgium scores 6.31 and climbs four places to rank 11th among the innovation-driven economies on the Connectivity Scorecard 2011 index. In 2010, Belgium held the 15th rank with a score of 6.08.

To be fair, Belgium’s performance is that of a moderately strong performer, but more similar to the “continental” European nations of France, Germany and Austria than to the Northern European fringe of the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Belgium’s strength lies in its extensive cable broadband infrastructure, ICT investments in the business sector, and the share of workforce employed in science and technology streams. On the other side, its weaknesses include low 3G penetration, and inadequate ICT spending by government, educational institutions and healthcare organizations. Within the broad grouping of countries into which Belgium can be classified, one can expect to see some interchanging of positions (ranks) from year-to-year, but there is no indication that Belgium will fundamentally alter its performance and challenge the top few European countries.

Belgium’s Connectivity Performance by Scorecard Component