Porto Business School is the exclusive partner for compiling the data for the ranking in Portugal.
Portugal holds the 36th position in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, a study involving 64 countries, including Kuwait for the first time.
The results, released by IMD, reveal that Portugal climbed two positions compared to the previous year. At the regional level – where it is part of a group of 41 countries from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – Portugal is in 24th place. Considering population density – in a group of 37 countries with less than 20 million inhabitants – the country is in 22nd place.
Despite dropping two positions in the "Knowledge" factor, to 31st place on the table, Portugal recorded improvements in the subfactors "Education and training" (from 36th to 34th) and "Scientific concentration" (from 27th to 26th), maintaining the classification in "Talent" (29th). Regarding specific criteria, Portugal stands out for the "Student/teacher ratio (higher education)" (12th) and "Graduates in Sciences" (16th). On the other hand, "International experience" and "Training of workers" are the main weaknesses of Portugal highlighted.
In the "Technology" factor, improvements were only seen in the "Technological framework" (from 48th to 46th), with "Capital" (49th) and "Regulatory framework" (27th) dropping one and eight positions, respectively. Within these parameters, "Immigration policies" (6th) and "Communication technologies" (8th) are the main strengths of Portugal, with "Mobile broadband subscribers" being the main weakness.
Finally, in "Future readiness", Portugal moved up nine places in the subfactor "Adaptation attitudes" (26th) and two in "Business agility" (58th), maintaining the 25th position in "IT integration (Information Technology)." Here, it should be noted that Portugal leads globally in "Data protection regulation" but shows weaknesses in "Business agility" and "Use of big data and analytics."
The Emergence of AI Accompanied by Strengthening Cybersecurity
The results of this year's IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking also give an idea of how different countries are approaching digital transformation in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) – increasingly important at a time when the emergence and growth of this technology are already transforming society.
“While we measure no specific AI indicators, the technology sits silently at the core of several of the subfactors that we quantify: talent, regulatory and technological frameworks, and adaptive attitudes and business agility. On a data level, the quality of digital regulation, the funding available for technology development, and the degree of company agility are all data points that are enmeshed with AI,” explains Professor Arturo Bris, director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Center, which has been producing the WDCR since 2017.
For José Esteves, dean of Porto Business School, "this ranking reaffirms Portugal's position as a dynamic competitor on the global stage. At Porto Business School, we are committed to fostering innovation and education, focusing especially on critical areas such as leadership, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, thus driving the continuous improvement of advances."
It should also be mentioned artificial intelligence and concerns about national security are at the center of another notable trend observed in the ranking: a growing attention to cybersecurity. Of the 4,000 senior executives worldwide, who responded to the survey, only five percent stated that they had not implemented any new cybersecurity measures in the past year.
United States Regains the Title of "Digital Leader"
After falling to second place last year for the first time since the creation of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking in 2017, the United States has returned to the top position with robust results in the three factors: "Knowledge," "Technology," and "Future readiness." The Netherlands climbed four positions compared to last year and occupy, in this edition, the second place. Singapore completes the podium, having won the first place in the "Technology" factor.
Denmark, the overall leader of the 2022 edition of the ranking, fell to fourth place, mainly due to a decline in "Future readiness" and "Technology" factors. Switzerland, the highest-ranked economy in the "Knowledge" factor, maintained its position from the previous edition, completing the top 5.
The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2023 studied 64 economies – including Kuwait for the first time – analyzing three main factors: "Knowledge," "Technology," and "Future readiness." These are divided into nine subfactors, comprising a total of 54 criteria that are quantified through concrete data and responses from executives to a survey.
This year, IMD has already released the World Talent Ranking and the World Competitiveness Ranking, where Portugal recorded the 25th and 39th positions, respectively.
