India secures 1st rank in AI talent concentration and overall 61st according to the recently released Network Readiness Index 2022. India's position has improved by six slots in the latest version of 2022. The report ranks a total of 131 economies that collectively account for almost 95 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). The United States takes 1st place from the Netherlands (4th) as the most network-ready society.  

This year's report, titled 'Stepping into the new digital era: how and why digital natives will shape the world, is published by the Portulans Institute and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.  

The biggest mover is Singapore (2nd), which surged from the seventh position to rank second in this year's index, pushing Denmark (6th) and Finland (7th) out of the top 5. The other five countries that make up the top 10 are Sweden (3rd), Switzerland (5th), Germany (8th), Korea Rep. (9th) and Norway (10th). 

The ranking is based on each country's performance in technology, people, governance, and impact, covering 58 variables. NRI 2022 confirms that advanced economies in Europe, parts of Asia and the Pacific, and North America are among the world's most network-ready societies.  

India has not only improved in its ranking but improved its score from 49.74 in 2021 to 51.19 in 2022. In addition, the country secured 1st rank in AI talent concentration, second rank in mobile broadband internet traffic within the country and international internet bandwidth, 3rd in annual investment in telecommunication services and domestic market size, 4th in ICT services exports, 5th rank in FTTH/building internet subscription and AI scientific publications.  

The report states that India has greater network readiness than expected, given its income level. The nation scores higher than the income group average in all pillars and sub-pillars.