The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland released the 2024 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (DCR) on November 14th. Taiwan ranked 9th among 67 major countries and economies, maintaining its position from 2023, with seven criteria ranking in the global top 3. The Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that it will reference the report's assessment and continue to enhance Taiwan's overall digital competitiveness through diverse planning.

Taiwan's Top 3 Rankings in Seven Criteria In this year's evaluation, Taiwan achieved top 3 rankings in 7 criteria. Among these, "IT&Media Stock Market Capitalization" ranked first globally. "Total R&D Personnel per capita" and" Agility of Companies" ranked second. Four criteria ranked third: "Educational Assessment PISA - Math"," Higher Education Achievement," "Total Expenditure on R&D (%)," and "High-tech Exports (%)." These demonstrate Taiwan's strengths in information technology, R&D capabilities, business performance, and higher education in the digital domain.

Taiwan's Performance Across the Three Main Factors: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness The IMD ranking evaluates countries' adaptability, exploration, and application capabilities in digital transformation based on three main factors, nine sub-factors, and 59 criteria. The three main factors are Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness.

The "Knowledge" factor reflects a country's learning capability for new technologies, where Taiwan ranked 19th globally. Notable rankings include 2nd in "Total R&D Personnel per capita," 3rd in "Educational Assessment PISA - Math," "Higher Education Achievement," and "Total Expenditure on R&D (%)." Improvements were also seen in "Graduates in Sciences," "Women with Degrees," "Scientific and Technical Employment," and "High-tech Patent Grants." Given the importance of talent and R&D capabilities, Taiwan plans to intensify talent development efforts to cultivate and attract digital professionals that meet industry and R&D needs, aiming to improve its ranking further.

The "Technology" factor evaluates a country's ability to develop digital innovations, where Taiwan ranked 7th globally. "IT&Media Stock Market Capitalization" maintained its global first place, while "High-tech Exports (%)" rose to the third. Taiwan also improved in "Development & Application of Tech," "Scientific Research Legislation," "Funding for Technological Development," "Banking and Financial Services," "Investment in Telecommunications," and "Wireless Broadband." These results indicate the government's adequate regulatory support for innovation and infrastructure for widespread connectivity. Taiwan intends to continue supporting the AI industry through its National Development Fund, fostering an AI ecosystem for industrial growth.

The "Future Readiness" factor measures digital transformation progress, where Taiwan ranked 6th globally, improving one position from last year. "Agility of Companies" ranked 2nd, with improvements in "Knowledge Transfer,"" Cyber Security," and "Government Cyber Security Capacity." These improvements demonstrate effective government and corporate efforts in recent years to bolster cybersecurity. Taiwan will continue enhancing cybersecurity governance, fostering public-private intelligence sharing, and strengthening defenses to safeguard overall information security.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that the government will consider the IMD report to evaluate Taiwan's digital strengths and challenges in the areas of Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness. The goal is to achieve digital policy objectives of trust and equality, resilience and sustainability, freedom and diversity, and innovative growth while expanding public-private partnerships in digital transformation to enhance overall digital resilience.