Web Study: Singapore's Ranking & Recommendations

Introduction to the Web Index and its Purpose

Questions:

Discuss about the Case Study of the Web Index.

The renowned organization called World Wide Web Foundation produced and designed the Web Index. The purpose of the Web Index is to measure contribution of World Wide Web to economical, social and political development within nations across the world[1]. In order to make the people understand how the nations maximize the impact of the web, Web Index compiles data across several different Web healths’ dimensions and makes it available free. The annual country-ranking format continuously improves the understanding of the people regarding the Web’s value for humanity[2].

The study includes the description of the Web Index in accordance with Singapore. Singapore ranked 22^nd in the Web Index ranking and has the value of 75.16. Every key areas of the Web Index are described in detail in the study. The provided recommendation implies that there are five things that Singapore must carry out in order to achieve better ranking.

Universal Access:

Universal access is a sub-index and it measures that countries have devoted in reasonable access to high quality internet infrastructure[3]. In addition to that, it also suggests that countries are investing in skills and education that its people require to make use of the Web well.

Figure 1: Universal Access Graph

(Source: [4])

Figure 2: Universal Access in Measurement

(Source: [5])

Singapore is in ninth position in the list of Universal Access as per the data of Web Index. The score of the country is 91.69 [6]. This score clearly says that the Singapore has clearly provided extreme interest in its Web Usage. There are various regains within which Singapore need to improve. As per the definition of the Universal access, Singapore devoted in reasonable access to high quality internet infrastructure. The facts and figures support this statement. In order to make most use of the Web Infrastructure of a country, the people must be able to improve the skills. In addition to that, having the proper knowledge is also crucial. The country can categorize the web users into three categories such as academics, professional and entertainment usage. The most of the use is done for the entertainment purpose. It can be assumed that almost all the countries within top fifty make same amount of use of the web for the entertainment purpose. This suggests that the use of the web for the academic and professional purpose places it at 9^th position in the list.

2. Freedom and Openness:

These sub-index, freedom and openness, refers to the extent to which the people of a country enjoys privacy online, rights to information, expression and opinion[7]. On other orders, it can be stated this sub-index is the measure of the interaction of the citizens with the Web.

Figure 3: Freedom and Openness Graph of Singapore

(Source: [8])

Figure 4: Freedom and Openness Measure of Singapore

(Source: [9])

The score of Singapore in this sub-index is very low relative to the other sub-indexes. The country is in the 41^st position in the world ranking in this category [10]. The citizens of Singapore are not that much interested in interacting with the Web. It is may be because of their conserved nature but it is none of the concern of the study. Singapore, needs to make its citizens more educated and skilled so that they can also share their thoughts, believes and opinions. As the people of Singapore will learn to accept the views of the others, they can argue on different things. Social media sites like, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and many more provide the great opportunity to all the people of the world share their knowledge and views. Singapore, has to make its citizen more enthusiastic regarding interact with the Web.

Key Findings of Singapore's Ranking in the Web Index

3.Relevant Content:

The relevant content is the sub-index that uses both the factors, content present within each country and the Web utilization by the people. These two factors must be residing within a prominence on the amount to which several stakeholders can be able to access information. In addition to that, the data must be relevant to the purpose of use of the people[11]. The content must be in the form of that language within which the people of the specific country is most comfortable. These contents can be accessed through the channels and platforms that available broadly.

Figure 5: Relevant Content Graph Representation of Singapore

(Source: [12])

Figure 6: Relevant Content measurement of Singapore

(Source: [13])

The score of Singapore within this category of sub-index is 76.48. The country is in the 21^st position, followed by Estonia (75.72) [14]. These score is slightly more than average. Still Singapore has managed to produce content that most of its people can make use of. It will foolish to consider all the people within the region of the Web using category. It has be assumed that a certain amount of people actually make use of the Web. The people who make use of Web for entertainment and professional works are tend to use content that are written in English, not all but for majority. The reason this Country is lacking behind other countries is its mother tongue. There are very smaller chance of growing within this rank. As per the definition of the Relevant Content provided in the above section, the country’s content must be within the particular region so that the citizen can access the contents easily. In addition to that, the content, the citizen will be making use of and considered while measuring score, must be relevant for the targeted audience or people of Singapore.

4. Empowerment:

This sub-index reflects the most powerful and complex activity of the Web that is empowerment reflects the difference that the Web is bringing with the lifestyle and thought process of people of a country. This sub-index is also used for reflecting the impact of the Web on the society, politics, economy and environment[15]. Empowerment relates to these key four areas of any Country in a strange way.

Figure 7: Empowerment Graph Representation of Singapore

(Source: [16])

Figure 8: Empowerment Measurement of Singapore

(Source: [17])

Singapore has raked 19^thand 15^th in the empowerment respectively in the political area and economical area. The rank of Singapore in the overall empowerment is 18^{th [18]}. The score of this country in empowerment is 75.17. It says that the impact of Web on the social, economic, environment and political regions. The most of the impact of the Web on this country can be viewed in the economical areas as it makes use of the Web for communicating with the whole world. The Web can be a very good tool for making some move in the political region. One citizen can connect to different citizen who is hundreds of miles away and share their view on some political agenda. This way a thought or view of one person can grow from one region to completely region in a very rapid pace.

Understanding Universal Access in Singapore

Evaluation:

In terms of evaluating the four sub-indexes of the Web Index regarding Singapore, it is important to analyze all the sub-indexes. The biggest lack in the freedom and openness is the restricted mind of its citizen. The government is required to provide sufficient amount of knowledge to the citizen so that they can empower their view upon the citizen of other countries. This will allow Singapore to score more on the freedom and empowerment sub-index. There is not much limitations regarding universal access and the score reflects it. Gaining the ninth position in the world list is a significant matter. There are various areas that can be utilized the government for making more score in the empowerment area. The empowerment consists of four key areas and impact of Web on these regions is different.

Recommendations:

Universal Access: The universal Access of Singapore is 91.69 and has the world fastest internet average speed. The country has invested a lot in the internet infrastructure for providing internet service to its citizens. Nowadays internet is considered as a most essential service for public and facilitates for management of the utility services in the country. The citizens should have a reliable internet access and it is essential for the access of knowledge, finance and agriculture. Increasing the universal accessibility decreases the gap of governance and provides public access to the internet. It is recommended that a good technology is required to be selected and the integration issues are required to be identified for the improvement of the universal access.

Relevant Content: The relevant content of Singapore is 76.48, i.e. the stakeholders and the citizens can search the web in the language they prefer and find the most relevant content. The posting of the unnecessary web content and increase in the awareness can be used for the improvement of the relevant content. The online resources must not contain any junk files that the user does not find useful and maintain a good relationship with the citizens for understanding their requirement and providing them the most relevant content they needs. The establishment of a good trust is also important for engaging the user to use trusted sources of information.

Freedom and Openness: In freedom and openness Singapore have the value of 42.24 and there are lots of possibilities of improvement. The freedom and openness can be improved with maintaining transparency with the government rules and regulations. The management of the economic methodology and aligning the regulatory efficiency with the economic freedom criteria is also important for the increase in the freedom and openness of the internet access of the citizens and the stakeholders of the country. Controlling the financial sector and public investment programs can also eliminate the inefficiency of the current system.

Empowerment: The current empowerment value of Singapore is 75.17 and it is used for the measurement of the self determination in the citizens using the internet. The internet is making a huge difference for making a positive change in the society, politics, environment and economy. It is recommended that the all the information regarding the social life, economy and others mentioned in the key areas for bringing a positive change in the country must be available in the internet. The users should have access to all the resources that can bring a change in their life and the government authorities must monitor the web content and take an initiative to increase the digital literacy of the country.

Freedom and Openness in Singapore

From the above study, it can be concluded that Singapore is a strong country according to Web Index. According to the results of the organization, various countries are making the use of the Web significantly more than other countries. The Web can be seen as a great source of medium that can generate power and economy. The use of the interact can allow the citizen of Singapore to communicate freely with the citizen of the other countries. Keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend the connection amongst correspondence and worldwide understudy streams in the data society, it is basic to research the impacts of the Internet. The Web Index is the main multidimensional measure relating the World Wide Web to worldwide improvement and human rights. The pointers of Web Index incorporate zones of widespread get to, flexibility and openness, pertinent substance and strengthening. The people who make use of the internet for entertainment purposes do the most use of the Web in the Singapore. This scenario can be seen in other countries too. Instead of this fact, it can be strongly stated that the most of the interactions with the Web is done for knowledge gathering and sharing purpose.

References:

"About | The Web Index". 2017. Thewebindex.Org. https://thewebindex.org/about/.

"Data | The Web Index". 2017. Thewebindex.Org. https://thewebindex.org/data/?indicator=INDEX&country=SGPhttps://thewebindex.org/data/?indicator=INDEX&country=SGP.

"Web Index: Empowerment: Political | Open Data". 2017. Socrata. https://idp.nz/Global-Rankings/Web-Index-Empowerment-Political/bcgb-g3xx.

"Web Index: Freedom & Openness | Open Data". 2017. Socrata. https://idp.nz/Global-Rankings/Web-Index-Freedom-Openness/43nm-is4c.

"Web Index: Relevant Content | Open Data". 2017. Socrata. https://idp.nz/Global-Rankings/Web-Index-Relevant-Content/v3pg-t68t.

"Web Index: Universal Access: Access & Affordability | Open Data". 2017. Socrata. https://idp.nz/Global-Rankings/Web-Index-Universal-Access-Access-Affordability/ndvd-qsv6.

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