Connectivity – the key to innovation and productivity?

The Connectivity Scorecard from the London Business School and Nokia/Siemens, released a couple of days ago, rates different nations based on the value each derives from their telecommunications infrastructures. This differs from some previous studies which focused on the amount of total investment, not the amount of benefit. So, whereas for example South Korea often rates at or near the top per-capita in other studies, the United States rates in the top position this time.

I’ll have to learn about the underlying methodology – it may very well be that IM is not uniquely identified as a line-item within it. However and fwiw, this is consistent with some research I was asked to do back in 2002 about IM use in different regions. While there were some interesting regional favorites (AOL in North America, Yahoo more in Europe as I recall), there was a big overall disparity between the US and elsewhere in the use of real-time text collaboration.

It appears for the moment that the US is ahead of other nations in this study. However, the scale appears fixed and thus leaves plenty of room for improvement. Plenty opportunity for more fun