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Digital Evolution Index 2017: Switzerland is in third place

When it comes to digital competitiveness, the Nordic countries have always been the leaders – but now, according to an international ranking, Switzerland is in third place.

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Digital Evolution Index 2017: Switzerland takes third place.

It's been barely 20 years since Sergey Brin and Larry Page registered the domain name google.com – and just ten years since Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco and introduced the iPhone. Since then, digital technologies have conquered the world and shaped the market. It is not just the private sector that is engaging with the digitization of society and commerce, but also the state, which wants to position itself on the global market with its innovations. This is also the case for Switzerland, as the joint study Digital Evolution Index 2017 by Mastercard and the Fletcher School at Tufts University (USA) shows.

Digitization: Switzerland among the top 10 countries

The report evaluates 60 countries according to their digital momentum and development since 2008, as well as their competitiveness and economic growth. To determine how far the countries have come, the following four main criteria were defined along with 170 different indicators:

  • Internet access and infrastructure
  • Consumer demand for digital technologies
  • Institutional basic conditions (government, guidelines and legal resources)
  • Innovations (investments of state and investors in research and digital startups)

In the new study, Switzerland is in third place behind Norway and Sweden. Denmark, Finland, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, Hong Kong and the US occupy the following places in the top ten advanced digital economies.

A high level of innovativeness places Switzerland at the top

Switzerland tops the rankings in many areas: it has, for example, led the Global Innovation Index as the most innovative country for the last seven years. The country is also expected to play a leading global role in digital transformation. At the beginning of the year, the respective manifesto was handed over to Swiss Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann at the Worldwebforum in Zurich.

For decades now, the innovativeness of Swiss companies has allowed them to successfully defend themselves against international competition in many industries. Added to this is the ability of Swiss companies to translate research results into market-ready products. Further information on the subject can be found in our Factsheet.

For more information about Switzerland as a business location, download our Handbook for Investors .

Press release Mastercard.

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