Nepal Network Readiness index, a cross sectional analysis

1. Nepal’s Network Readiness Index (NRI)
A cross sectional analysis
Snr. Eng. Bhupendra Jha
WSD-RF-Planning
As countriesaround the world begin to progress, or endure to improve upon,their digital strategies,it is important for
policymakers to first understand the strengths and weaknesses of their respective economies in order to construct a
prosperousroadmap for the future. In order to do that, assessment tools such as the NRI can be precious, since they go
beyond conventional data sourcessuch as national statistics and expert surveys and help reflect the underlying digital
content creation, capacities, and skills of a nation’s population.
Network Readiness index (NRI):
Network readiness is a multidimensional concept,the Network Readiness Index (NRI) is a composite index constructed
with three levels. The primary level consists of four pillars that make up the fundamental dimensions of network
readiness.
Each of the fundamental pillars divides further into sub-pillars that create the second level.
• Technology: Access, Content, Future Technologies
• People: Individuals, Businesses, Governments
• Governance: Trust, Regulation, Inclusion
• Impact: Economy, Quality of Life, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) contribution.
The third level consists ofindividual indicators distributed across the different sub-pillars and pillars of the primary and
secondary levels. All indicators used within the NRI belong to a pillar and a sub-pillar. For record-keeping, a three-digit
code identifies each indicator. The first digit refers to the primary pillar, the second digit concerns the secondary sub-
pillar, and the third denotes the indicator itself.
Fig1: NRI Model

2. The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) was first published in 2002 and provided a complete framework for assessing
the multi-faceted effect of ICT on society and the development of nations.
Until 2016, the NRI was part of the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) published by the World Economic
Forum (WEF), Cornell University and INSEAD. Under the World Economic Forum, the Networked Readiness
Index (NRI), also referred to as Technology Readiness, was published as part of the’ ‘Global Information Technology
Report (GITR). The report is regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive assessment ofhow ICT impacts the
competitiveness and well-being of nations.
The index was originally developed by the Information Technology Group, which worked at Harvard University's Center
for International Development until 2002. It seeks to better understand the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of
nations and is a composite of three components:
 The environment for ICT offered by a given country or community (market, political, regulatory, and
infrastructure environment)
 The readiness of the country's key stakeholders (individuals, businesses, and governments) to use ICT
 The usage of ICT among these stakeholders.
The Structure ofthe NetworkedReadiness Index:
The NRI has been designed as a macrolevel tool for policymakers and global leaders. The Index signals broad trends,
flags opportunities and deficits, and makes a unique contribution to the understanding of how nations are performing
relative to one another with regard to their participation in the Networked World. Profiles that explore the detailed
Networked Readiness situation of each nation in the Index can be found in the second part of the Global Information
Technology Report; these country-specific profiles provide an excellent companion to the broad findings of the NRI.
Readers and researchers are also encouraged to refer to this report’s Data Rankings section, where results are presented
for all of the individual variables used to compile the NRI. Together, the NRI, its underlying data, and the country
profiles serve as an excellent complement to, and reality check for, country-level Networked Readiness Assessments
performed at the behest of domestic governments and international organizations. Such assessments, whether they are
quick snapshots orlong-term engagements exploring the Networked Readiness of a particular community, can provide
valuable input for policymaking or agenda setting, and should be aided by the NRI and the country profiles .
Fig2: structure of Network Readiness index

3. Furthermore, because this is the first year in which we have produced the NRI, we do not yet have access to time-series
data that would allow us to track trends over time. Yet, while we are well aware of the dangers of relying too much on
cross sectional characterizations of the 75 countries that constitute the rankings in the NRI, the Index still represents a
major step forward in helping understand Networked Readiness. Finally, one has to recognize what we call “th e
challenge of comparing the big fish in a little pond to the big fish in a big pond.” While the NRI provides important
evidence for understanding relative levels of Networked Readiness, there are certain inherent limitations that stem from
using the nation state as the basic unit of measure. A direct comparison of two countries such as Iceland, which scores
very highly on the index (2nd), and India, which is in the bottomthird of the NRI (54th), could be misleading when one
considers the relative sizes of these nations and their different impacts on the global Networked scene. It also fails to
capture the wide internal variation in India’s enormous economy of more than one billion people,which is quite different
from Iceland’s more economically homogenous population of roughly 250 thousand people.
Enabling Factors:
The Enabling Factors component index is constructed to reflect the preconditions for high quality Network Use as well
as the potentialfor future Network proliferation and use in a country.The four subindexes that make up Enabling Factors
are (with constituent micro-indexes in parentheses):
• Network Access (Information Infrastructure and Hardware, Software, and Support)
• Network Policy (ICT Policy, Business and Economic Environment)
• Networked Society (Networked Learning, ICT Opportunities, Social Capital)
• Networked Economy (e-Commerce, e-Government, General Infrastructure)
Where Nepal Stand?
Readiness is a constantly shifting phenomenon determined by a complex interaction of factors. One of the biggest
challenges of constructing the NRI was to strike a balance between oversimplifying a very dynamic concept and
successfully untangling the factors that lead to Networked Readiness.
According to NRI report published, NRI status of Nepal is summarized and shown in below table:
As seen from above table Nepal NRI is improving from 126 in 2013 to 99 in 2017. While the ranking is again start
falling from 2019 rank at 106 and to 115 in 2021. The impact of massive earth quack and 2015 and covid-19 situation
in 2020 had the major impact on overall rankings.
Year Code Country
NRI
rank
No of country considered for
Report
2013 NPL Nepal 126 142
2014 NPL Nepal 123 144
2015 NPL Nepal 118 143
2016 NPL Nepal 118 139
2017 NPL Nepal 99 136
2019 NPL Nepal 106 134
2020 NPL Nepal 113 134
2021 NPL Nepal 115 130

4. The ranking index is graphically shown in below picture:
The Pillars on which NRI report is based is technology,people, governance and impact. The pillar index value for Nepal
in 2021 is shown in below table:

5. How to Improve the NRIRanking
The pace of digital transformation demands a continualreexamination of the sources that enrich the NRI model. Similar
to the renewal process of 2019, the NRI team examined multiple general and technology-specific sources to identify
novelindicators that can help measure and assess the dynamic landscape ofdigital transformation and network readiness.
Improvements to the NRI occurred through the replacement, development, or inclusion of coherent metrics, but the main
concept underlying the NRI model remained constant Primary updates to the NRI 2021 apply across five sub-pillars:
Access, Future Technologies, Individuals, Businesses, Economy, and SDG Contribution. A total of 60 indicators
populates all 12 sub-pillars in the NRI. Details about any improvements within the complete list of indicators are found
in Appendix I: Technical Notes and AppendixII: Sources and Definitions of the report.
Technology
Technology is at the heart of the network economy. Therefore, as a primary category of the NRI, the Technology pillar
seeks to assess the level of technology that is a sine qua non for a country to participate in the global economy. Three
sub-pillars accomplish the Technology pillar’s purpose:
 Access: The fundamental access level to ICT in countries, including issues about communications
infrastructure and affordability. Access of technology in 2021 of Nepal Ranks 130 and index value is 20.06.
Due to high terrain, mountains the access is very poor. Planning shall be done to improve the access of
technologies to gap digital divide between users from all part of the country.
 Content: The type of digital technology produced in countries and the content/applications that can be
deployed locally, including research on the subject derived from scientific and technical articles. The content
index is improving but need to encourage the new tech champions for further creation of local content.
 Future Technologies: The extent that countries have prepared for the future of the network economy and new
technology trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
People
The prevalence and quality of technology reflect countries' (and any organization's) skill, access, and ability to utilize
technology resources in productive ways. Therefore, the People pillar measures how people apply ICT at three levels of
analysis: individuals, businesses, and governments.
 Individuals: Individuals need to encourage to use technology and leverage their skills to participate in the
network economy.
 Businesses: Businesses house must use ICT and participate in the network economy.
 Governments: Governments use themself and invest in ICT for the benefit of the general population.
Governance
Governance refers to the structures that uphold an integrated network for the safety and security of its users. Therefore,
the Governance pillar concerns the establishment and accessibility of systems that promote activity within the network
economy across three levels:
 Trust: The safety of individuals and firms in the context of the network economy, reflected in an environment
conducive to trust and the trusting behavior of the population. Government must take initiative to improve trust
and its enabling factors.
 Regulation: The extent to which a government promotes participation in the network economy through
regulation, policy, and planning. The regulation, policy and planning shall be done in keeping mind for
sustainable development goals (SDGs).
 Inclusion: The digital divides within countries where governance can address issues such as inequality based
on gender, disabilities, and socioeconomic status. Government shall invest in ICT for the area where other ICT
business are not willing to go. Special provision like RTDF funds shall introduce to encourage inclusiveness.

6. Impact
Readiness in the network economy is a means to improve the growth and well-being of society and the economy in
general. Therefore, the Impact pillar seeks to assess the economic, social, and human impact of participation in the
network economy across three levels:
 Economy: The economic impact of participating in the network economy. The economy score is 17.59 which
is very poor for Nepal in 2021. Government shall choose multi-level planning, business implementation to
boost the economy.
 Quality of life: The social impact of participating in the network economy. The quality-of-life sub-index is
63.70, which is better than another indexfor NRI.
 SDG contribution: The impact of participating in the network economy within the context of SDGs. ICT has
a critical role within the network economy and receives particular focus with indicators integrated across health,
education, and the environment.
Conclusion:
Nearly two years after the onset of COVID-19, one conclusion is clear—digital transformation has changed from a
needed priority into a global imperative for all. Businesses, governments, education institutions, and individuals all
rapidly shifted their processes online in the wake of lockdown measures. The overnight shift towards virtual living and
working heightened our reliance on digital technologies and increased the demand for network infrastructure, reliable
connectivity, and digital literacy. The sub-pillar clearly indicated that the need to improve in content and future
technology for Technology Pillar, while the government pillar, need to emphasis the trust and regulation and for impact
pillar, quality of life, SDG contribution is very poor which need to focus primarily than other sub pillars.
References:
 https://networkreadinessindex.org/
 https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/entrp.network.idx?country=BRA&indicator=3499&viz=line_chart
&years=2012,2016#table-link
 https://www.insead.edu/sites/default/files/assets/dept/globalindices/docs/nri-2019.pdf
 https://networkreadinessindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/nri2013.pdf
 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.540.719&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 https://ncsi.ega.ee/country/np/?pdfReport=1
 https://portulansinstitute.org/the-value-and-uses-of-the-network-readiness-index/