Germany – a moderate performer but slips down the ranks

Germany’s moderate performance on the Connectivity Scorecard 2010 mirrors that of France and is reflective of the digital divide between West and East Germany. Germany ranks 17th and France 18th in this year’s results.

Broadband penetration among German households is respectable and is expected to further improve. Germany also reports high frequent internet usage and e-commerce uptake among consumers. The country fares strongly in all measures of business usage and skills, particularly in terms of proportion of businesses with a Web presence, business broadband uptake and enterprise telephony.

However, Germany’s consumer infrastructure scores, whilst comparable with other large Western nations. are weak compared to leading Asian nations such as Korea and Japan. Business investments in ICT-related hardware, software and knowledge are also relatively modest and Germany does not perform too well in terms of utilization of e-government infrastructure.
Germany, like France, is more a follower than a leader in adopting and using ICT. While it has seen recent strong growth in consumer broadband, it needs to boost its business investments in ICT.

Germany Connectivity Performance by Scorecard Component