The Digital Readiness Index of Nations from IDCA Research includes 20 nations in Latin America. Nations that are accelerating their Digital Readiness and building Digital Infrastructure are on the right path to create a sustainable, successful Digital Economy.

The EESG Index integrates more than 100 factors into a process that scores each nation overall, as well as in the categories of Economy, Environment, Social, and Government.

* The Economy score considers a country's existing state of Digital Infrastructure relative to the nation's overall wealth, its cost of living, and physical infrastructure.

* The Environment score is weighted toward a nation's carbon footprint, but also considers

* The Social score considers income disparity, health and healthcare, education, transportation, and other quality-of-life factors.

* The Government score centers around corruption, direct investment, and stability.

An overall score combines the four categories. All category scores and the overall score are presented on a scale of 0-100 points.

The index is unique among the world's research projects, as it considers relative development rather than absolute development – its fundamental question is, “how well is each nation progressing given its current income levels and socioeconomic conditions?”

This approach thus illustrates which nations in developing markets are progressing relatively quickly, and which higher income nations are close to reaching fully developed status.

There is of course a wide range of results among the 20 nations in this index. A total of 11 of the 20 nations score above the world average, with the remainder below the world average.

Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Chile have recorded the strongest scores among the 20 Latin American nations in this index. Brazil ranks highest among the region's “Big Three” economies, with Colombia second, and Mexico third.

IDCA members can access a full Latin America report, entitled, “How the Nations of Latin America Compare in the IDCA Digital Readiness of Nations Index.” The report is currently published in English.

Photograph from the government of São Paulo.