Denmark has world's best IT networked economy: WEF

Unemployed Chinese women attend computer class at Harbin Women's Training Centre in the northeastern city of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, May 23, 2004.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Denmark is better placed than any other country to benefit economically from new information and communications technology, according to a survey published on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum.

In its annual global information technology report, the Switzerland-based organization ranked Denmark top of 127 countries it surveyed for a second year in a row.

The WEF considered the business and regulatory environments in the countries it covered, the readiness of individuals, businesses and government to exploit opportunities and actual usage of the latest IT and communications technology (ICT).

The annual survey aims to assess the impact of IT and telecoms on countries' development and competitiveness.

Seven of the top 10 in the WEF's so-called networked readiness index were European. The United States was ranked fourth and Singapore fifth, with South Korea leaping to number nine from 19 last year, displacing Britain.

"The successful experience of the Nordic countries, Singapore, the United States or Korea shows that a coherent government vision on the importance of ICT, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation, are key not only for spurring networked readiness, but also to lay the foundations for sustainable growth," said Irene Mia, a senior WEF economist and co-editor of the report.

The WEF said it used public data in compiling its report as well as conducting its own survey of executive opinion on institutional and business environment issues, in conjunction with leading research institutes and business organizations.

This year's survey was sponsored by Cisco (CSCO.O), the world's biggest maker of Internet routers and switchers.

The full report is published on WEF's Website at www.weforum.org/gitr.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Sue Thomas)