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EW YORK — Sweden defended its ranking this year as the world’s dominant information economy, according to the 2001 International Data Corp. (IDC)/World Times Information Society Index (ISI).
For the second straight year, the ISI ranked Sweden No. 1 in the ability to access and absorb information and information technology. The United States, which was ranked No. 2 last year, slipped to the fourth spot in the annual ranking, trading places with Norway, which moved from fourth last year to No. 2 in 2001. Finland ranked third.
ability are a rapidly growing segment of the IT sector in Sweden.
“For Sweden to be named the top information economy by IDC for the second year in a row is even more impressive because it indicates a strong trend and not a one-time occurrence,” says Magnus Moliteus, executive director of the Invest in Sweden Agency (www.isa.se). “Our continual investment in wireless and Internet technologies and IT infrastructure has produced a unique business climate in our Wireless Valley that is very attractive for U.S. corporations looking to open offices in Europe.”
The annual ISI ranking is based on four infrastructure categories: computer, information, Internet and social infrastructure. The index credited Sweden with the highest Internet infrastructure scores, along with Singapore and Australia. The United States is ranked No. 10 in this category.
Sweden also scored highly as the most well rounded or strongest in all four categories. The overall scores of the top 10 information economies in 2001 are shown at right.
Sweden’s rise to the top of the global ISI is reflected by the large number of global IT companies that have established operations there. Among the firms that have set up wireless, research and development, design centers and other high-tech operations in Sweden’s “Wireless Valley” are Accenture, Cambridge Technology Partners, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Oracle, Siemens and Sun Microsystems.
Established by the Swedish government to recruit foreign direct investment, the Invest in Sweden Agency lists a number of characteristics that enabled Sweden to become the leading IT cluster in Europe and a world leader in wireless technology and the mobile Internet. These include a strong industrial base, demanding multinational customers, active application of IT in both the public and private sectors, advanced infrastructure, highly skilled work force and strong entrepreneurship.
The IDC/World Times ISI is a global strategic planning tool that is used to track data from 55 countries that collectively account for 97 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and 99 percent of the world’s spending on information technology. Just as GDP measures the economic wealth of countries, the ISI measures the information capacity of countries. A forthcoming report will include IT forecasts through 2004, with data drawn from sources including the IDC, UNESCO, World Bank and Freedom House.
Study: Call Centers Calling on Unlikely Places
NEW YORK — Companies wanting to set up successful call centers might do well by locating such operations in “off-the-beaten-path” cities, a study by the Fantus group of Deloitte & Touche (www.us.deloitte.com) suggests.
The share of new jobs that call-center organizations have committed to smaller cities in North America, though relatively small, is increasing, the study notes. From 1997 to 2000, these job investments have risen almost three-fold, from just 4,655 in 1997 to more than 12,800 in 2000.
During this period, call centers set up shop in such out-of-the-way places as Stevens Point, Wis.; Marquette, Mich.; Durant, Okla.; Rockland, Maine; and Kamloops, British Columbia.
“This once unusual location strategy has now gone mainstream, and we expect that it will accelerate,” says Andy Shapiro, senior manager at Deloitte & Touche Fantus in New York, and lead author of the study. “If they enter the market early enough and cultivate their reputation, call-center organizations are finding that they can become the ’employer of choice’ in these small communities.”
Furthermore, this trend toward second- and third-tier locations has been mirrored by the growing number of call-center jobs heading to cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, the study found. Among the locations benefiting from this migration are Pharr, Texas; Silver City, N.M.; and Sierra Vista, Ariz.
Still, the major metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada accounted for the majority of new call-center investments last year. The top four job-generating metro areas were all in the U.S. South Central region. Buoyed by large commitments from two outsourcing call-center organizations — West Teleservices and Convergys Corp. — Baton Rouge, La., led the pack with 4,500 new call-center jobs, followed by Oklahoma City with 3,717.
The top 10 metro areas in call-center job creation last year are shown at right.
Other survey findings include:
- New call-center job opportunities rose 12 percent in 2000 and are up 40 percent since 1997.
- While the number of new call-center jobs continues to rise, the number of new call centers has actually decreased, falling from 176 in 1999 to 167 in 2000, reflecting maturity and consolidation in the market.
- The top 10 metro areas for new call-center job opportunities for the period of 1997 to 2000 were Tampa-St. Petersburg (11,060 jobs); Dallas-Fort Worth (8,880); Kansas City, Mo. (8,730); Norfolk, Va. (8,480); Jacksonville, Fla. (7,400); St. Louis (6,945); Oklahoma City, Okla. (6,517); Albuquerque, N.M. (5,540); Baton Rouge, La. (5,500); and Phoenix (5,225).
Digital Age Reshaping America’s Urban Centers
LOS ANGELES — Who’s leading the digital revolution in America? The answers, according to a new study from the Milken Institute, may surprise you.
“The revitalization under way in some of America’s urban centers represents one of the most important, if surprising, developments of the new millenium,” notes the study, Knowledge-Value Cities in the Digital Age. “In today’s high-tech world, highly educated, skilled workers are moving to the very places whose best days, many believed, were over: America’s urban centers.”
The authors found that the cities that have done the best in the current urban revival are New York, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago. “Aided greatly by the influx of workers from the ‘soft’ or content side of technology, these cities have emerged as leaders in the expanding digital economy,” the report states.
“While the digital age makes it easier for skilled workers to choose where they want to work and live, what they’re choosing are cities that appeal to their lifestyle,” the report notes. “These are some of America’s biggest and oldest cities — places where other single, creative people live, and where they enjoy the arts, culture and other lifestyle amenities.”
The report also notes that another group of cities — in the 500,000 population and below — has benefited from the digital revolution. These “emerging technology” cities provide the “hard” or support side of technology, including manufacturing, services and supplies, with fewer of the drawbacks that plague major high-tech communities: higher costs of doing business, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, crime, etc.
The Milken Institute study identifies the leading emerging technology cities as Reno, Nev.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Tulsa, Okla.; Huntsville, Ala.; Omaha, Neb.; and Boise, Idaho.
“The most encouraging development of the digital age,” states the report, “may be the renaissance of some of America’s most troubled urban neighborhoods. Many have been reborn thanks to inexpensive rents and classic buildings with large spaces available to house the growing, creative high-tech companies and their workers. These include downtown Los Angeles; central Dallas; Baltimore; Kingston, N.Y.; Dayton, Ohio; and Oakland, Calif.”
The study adds that the single-most important ingredient for turning a community into a center of digital commerce is the creation of “intelligence clusters” that attract and retain a solid base of knowledge workers. However, the report states, “there is no magic formula telling cities how to do that.”
Knowledge-Value Cities in the Digital Age stems from a study commissioned last year by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. A full copy of the report is available online at www.milkeninstitute.org.
