Last year, there was a fuss about Bangladesh being excluded from the ITU’s IDI Index. We’ve periodically discussed the IDI even if we are not fans, exactly. We’ve periodically discussed the IDI even if we are not fans, exactly.
Good news for Bangladesh this year. Not only do we know what their score last year was (1.62 and a rank of 139), we know that both have improved (score to 1.73; and rank to 135). Sri Lanka has held on to its low rank of 107 (even though the score has increased from 2.92 in 2011 to 3.06 in 2012). All other South Asian countries have slipped: Maldives from 71 to 73 in rank; Bhutan from 117 to 118; India from 120 to 121; and Pakistan from 128 to 129. All countries have increased their scores (e.g, Maldives by a hefty 0.22), but when all scores are improving one does not rise in rank unless one does better than one’s peers.
So is the ITU ranking a conservative one that basically freezes countries in place? No, as is evident by Bangladesh’s four-place advance. Also the UK’s jump from 11th place to 8th in one year is noteworthy. But, as noted in previous posts, IDI is a seriously flawed Index. One of its merits of universality of coverage, but this time that seems to have shrunk. No Nepal in S Asia. Only Fiji, Tonga and Soloman Islands in the Pacific group.
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