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Maharashtra leads in internet readiness: IAMAI-Indicus study

Karnataka comes a close second, followed by Gujarat, Telengana and Tamil Nadu

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Maharashtra leads in internet readiness: IAMAI-Indicus study

Karnataka comes a close second, followed by Gujarat, Telengana and Tamil Nadu

BestMediaInfo Bureau/ New Delhi/ February 10, 2016

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Maharashtra has emerged as the top ranking Indian State in an overall Internet readiness index prepared by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indicus Analytics. In a report titled 'Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States', the IAMAI and Indicus Analytics rank Karnataka a close second in terms of Internet readiness, followed by Gujarat, Telengana and Tamil Nadu.

Incidentally, the four states at the bottom of the index are all from the eastern region. The rankings of the 21 large States are shown in Figure 1.

Fig 1: Internet Readiness Index: Large States

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Among the smaller states, Delhi has emerged as the top most State in the Internet readiness index, followed by Puducherry and Goa. The northeastern States do not figure among the top three even among the smaller States. Much more, therefore, needs to be done in the way of investment and infrastructure development in the region.

Fig 2: Internet Readiness Index: Smaller States

fig2

Among Union Territories, Chandigarh leads in the Internet Readiness Index. The Internet Readiness Index is a composite index of ?ve components, i.e., e-Infrastructure index, e-Participation index, IT-Services and e-Governance index. The performance of the States based on the Internet readiness index depends on several factors. The driving factors in?uencing the Internet readiness index of each State varies.

In Maharashtra's case, for instance, even though e-infrastructure is relatively low compared to Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and other States, the State surpasses them in all other components making it the best e-Ready society.  In Karnataka, participation of citizens in the ICT environment is lower than in Kerala and Gujarat. The State's high contribution of IT to the overall economy and success in e-government initiatives makes it the second most e-Ready environment in the county.

Madhya Pradesh, though high in terms of participation, ranks low in all other components. All the four components have equal signi?cance in the Internet readiness index model. The report highlights the performance of States in different measures of the Internet readiness index. The rapid advancement in e-services and e-commerce, necessitates an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the States, so that policy measures may be taken where improvements are required.

In this report, selection of the categories (and the parameters within each category) was based on the broader understanding of Internet readiness of citizens. Internet readiness encapsulates the spread and extent of the digital sector in different aspects of the socio-economic realities of each State. Internet readiness in this study is not limited to how industry friendly each State is for investment in the IT sector, but aims to give a more holistic picture of the digital ecosphere that exists in the States. This perspective stems from the understanding that only an organic linkage between the digital world and the real world can lead to the development and well-being that digitalization promises to deliver.

Several key Internet using parameters have been used in this report, such as Mobile subscribers per person above the age of 15 years, share of private players in Internet service providers, percentage of households using computers or laptop with Internet connection and the number of e-transactions in Utility Bill payments per lakh person above the age of 15 years. The study uses other parameters like the number of e-transactions in Business to Citizen (B2C) services per lakh person above the age of 15 years, the number of e-transactions in informational services per lakh person above the age of 15 years and so on.

The report is different from the traditional e-readiness reports, which had no Internet parameters. A different report using the Internet parameter was necessary to understand where States stand in terms of Internet readiness, rather than general e-readiness. The annual study will focus on the parameter of measuring the startup ecosystem of States next year.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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