Johannesburg has placed 29th out of 40 cities in a new ranking on ICT maturity. The report, by Ericsson, has placed Cairo, Egypt, in 35th place, while Lagos, Nigeria, is in 38th position.

Ericsson’s latest Networked Society City Index ranks the 40 cities’ ICT maturity in terms of the leverage they get from technology investments in economic, social and environmental development.

“Johannesburg is the telecommunications hub of South Africa. The city hosts the headquarters of numerous local and international organisations, and serves as the base for multinational corporations operating in the rest of the continent. The country has one of fastest-growing GSM markets in the world. According to the Johannesburg 2030 Strategy, the city will actively work on developing its ICT sector,” the Ericsson report says.

“In recent years, Johannesburg has launched several projects and partnerships with business and the ICT industry to raise awareness of ICT and boost investments in the region. Although the overall score is relatively weak, Johannesburg presents a mixed picture when it comes to the ICT dimension. On one hand, the ICT infrastructure is quite underdeveloped with slow fixed broadband speeds, and a large share of the population lacks access to the Internet. On the other hand, app coverage is average, smartphone penetration is slightly above average, and the share of people using the Internet is relatively high in relation to the low access rate.”

The report finds that cities with a low ICT maturity tend to be improving faster than high-performing cities. Ericsson says this indicates a “catch-up effect” because less mature cities can leapfrog others by avoiding expensive and increasingly obsolete physical infrastructure and instead move straight into innovative applications using mobile technology.

The Networked Society City Index includes an interactive city index tool, which can be viewed online.

Ericsson says the top five cities on the index remain the same as last year: Stockholm, London, Paris, Singapore and Copenhagen. There are also nine new cities that have been added to this year’s report, namely Berlin, Munich, Barcelona, Athens, Rome, Warsaw, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Ericsson says that among these, Munich enjoys the highest ranking, followed by Berlin and Barcelona.

Other cities that are included in the report include Beijing, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dhaka, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jakarta, Karachi, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Miami, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Oslo, São Paolo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo. — (c) 2014 NewsCental Media