Skip to main content

Bahrain has emerged as the top-performing country in the Middle East and is ranked 31st globally in the recently released ICT Development Index (IDI) for 2017.

The IDI is a flagship annual report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) aimed at evaluating the overall condition of the ICT infrastructure in different parts of the world.

The report claims that the vast majority of countries have shown signs of continuous improvement in IDI performance this year.

“Drawing conclusions from the report, it is clear that ICT sector is very dynamic and that another digital revolution is approaching – one which will transform business, government, and society. Four key developments are at the heart of this revolution: the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI),” the report stated.

Among the Arab countries, Bahrain topped the charts by ranking high on the list and securing the 31st place, followed by the UAE ranking 40th, Saudi Arabia ranking 54, and Jordan being 62.

The areas where Bahrain saw the highest growth in the ICT Development Index include the proportion of internet users in the country, as well as the number of households with Internet access.

According to experts familiar with Bahrain’s thriving telecom sector, the growing internet penetration in the country is a direct result of all three MNOs’ decision to go along with the early launch of LTE services in 2013.

In a related development, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) Board of Directors got together for the year’s final meeting last week. The meeting saw the Board members appreciating the Kingdom’s remarkable progress in the telecom sector over the past year.

[Source]