Fostering Competitiveness in European Countries with ICT: GCI Agenda

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) on the competitiveness of European countries. Over the last 30 years, the development and usage of ICT has increased. In order to investigate the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of European countries, we conducted a panel regression analysis. We collected data for the period of five years (2007–2011) from the European statistical database – Eurostat and Global Competitiveness Report. We found that ICT plays an important role in the achievement of global competitiveness of European countries. The results also revealed that ICT has the highest impact on the Global Competitiveness Index and Efficiency enhancers' sub-index. Additionally, we found that ICT is less influential on Basic Requirements sub-index and Innovation and Sophistication Factor sub-index.