It is barely 20 years since Sergey Brin and Larry Page registered the domain name google.com, and only 10 years since Steve Jobs walked onto a stage in San Francisco and introduced the iPhone. Yet in this short period, digital technologies have upended our world. We introduced the Digital Evolution Index in HBR in 2015 to trace the emergence of a “digital planet,” how physical interactions — in communications, social and political exchange, commerce, media and entertainment — are being displaced by digitally mediated ones. We identified many hotspots around the world where these changes are happening rapidly and other spots where momentum has slowed. Two years on, depending on where we live, we continue to move at different speeds toward the digital planet.
60 Countries’ Digital Competitiveness, Indexed
Digital technology is reshaping life and business around the globe, but the pace of change varies widely from one country to the next. The Digital Evolution Index, a joint project between The Fletcher School at Tufts University and Mastercard, traces the emergence of a “digital planet.” In other words, it maps how physical interactions – in communications, social and political exchange, commerce, media and entertainment — are being displaced by digitally mediated ones, and pinpoints where this transition is happening most rapidly. Momentum is picking up in places like China, Malaysia, Bolivia, Kenya, and Russia, even though those countries may not be as digitally advanced as standouts New Zealand, the U.K., the UAE, and Singapore. While digitalization is advanced in places like Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Finland, the momentum there has slowed, and is slowing in the U.S., Germany, and Japan as well. Countries with a long road ahead in their digital development include South Africa, Egypt, and Pakistan. Every country and multinational needs to be sensitive to the map of digital momentum so that they can tailor their strategies accordingly.
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