By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-04-20 18:59:31 | Word Count: 664
The World Economic Forum has published the results of their annual study that measures the technology usage of different countries. Go figure, the United States didn’t come in first place. The study used over 70 factors and indicators to determine the countries’ rankings. This annual study has been done for ten years and includes 138 countries. These countries were ranked based on the amount and type of technology that is used. Some of the factors included cell phone use, new patents and other social and economic centered issues. The World Economic Forum seeks to measure countries because of the belief that technological advancement is what is required for any country to thrive and develop economically.
So where did the U.S. place? Better than I thought. The U.S. placed fifth, right behind Sweden, Singapore, Finland and Switzerland, in that order. Sweden, Finland and Switzerland are countries that share a geographic region. Norway placed 9th and is in the company of Britain, Germany and France. Most European countries placed high, while most African countries placed low. It is quite understandable that the European countries may have influenced each other to put technology at the forefront. But how do we explain the technological disparity that happen to occur based on ethnic and racial differences. African countries rank very low and no one seems to care because it is almost as though this result is to be expected. Many people expect the U.S. to be high based on the level of economic and social development. I find it ironic that Africa is the place where so many of the raw materials required for technological devices come from. So while the resources may be found there, there is little trace of the product.
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Singapore stands out as the only Asian country in the top five. Taiwan came in at number six and South Korea took number ten. This doesn’t surprise anyone because Asian countries are expected to rank well in these categories. Where are China and Japan? They are in 36th and 19th place respectively. In recent decades, it has always been announced that India, China and other populous and developing countries had better educational systems. These countries seemed to pose a threat. Everywhere you turned, there was someone talking about how Americans are lagging behind as compared to India and China. Well the truth of the matter is that although according to this study America ranks 5th, America also ranks 52nd in math and science education. So regardless of how well the U.S. ranks on a whole, this ranking will only drop overtime if math and science education don’t measure up to other countries.
To produce and develop new technology, you need thinkers that are exposed to as much technology as possible from an early age. You can’t wait until college to try to encourage students to want to learn about math and science. Unfortunately, not many American students are pushed into technological fields, and are therefore unqualified to even begin to make an impact on this industry.
