5. Finland

Ranking fifth is Finland, with ranks across the sub-indexes in the top 10—fifth for impact, third for Readiness and eighth for the Web. Finland ranks predominantly high in terms of the Political Impact of the Web (4), Web Usage (3) and Institutional Infrastructure (3). The high quality of Finland’s communications and institutional infrastructure has made possible extensive access to the Web for Finnish citizens. Finland has one of the highest usage rates in the world—89% in 2011only behind by Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Also, the data indicates that available content has increased sharply in recent years. As a result, the socio-Economic Impacts have risen as well. In contrast with Switzerland, Finland’s e-participation index score has seen a slight raise over the past five years, rising from 0.273 in 2007 to 0.737 in 2011—a dramatic increase. e-participation index measures the extent to which governments use the Web to provide information and interact with stakeholders and engage citizens in decision-making.

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