Central Europe closes in on digital elites: study

CENTRAL EUROPE CLOSES IN ON DIGITAL ELITES: STUDY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Lucas van Grinsven]
Central European nations have closed in fastest amongst emerging economies on the digital elites in North America and western Europe, a ranking of Web-savvy nations showed on Thursday. The region, which includes Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Slovenia, scored 6.1 out of a possible 10 in the 2007 rankings, up from 5.8 in the previous year, according to the annual study published by U.S. computer company IBM and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist. The survey produces a scorecard from a mix of factors which determine how "e-ready" countries are. These include the number of broadband Internet connections and the level of online access to public services. The gap with North America and Western Europe remains large, with these regions scoring 8.6 and 8 respectively, but it is narrowing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2572519420070426