Bahrain Top IT-friendly country in Middle East

Bahrain has leapfrogged the UAE and Qatar to become the most IT-friendly nation in the Middle East, according to the 2012 Global Information Technology Report. Bahrain jumped three places in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) to be ranked 27th in the world. It’s now the top tech-head destination in the Middle East and North African region. The UAE surrendered its top spot falling six places down the internet pecking order, while Qatar maintained its second place by finishing 28th in the world. There were mixed results elsewhere in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia falling one place to 33rd and Oman ascending to a global rank of 40th. Kuwait lagged behind in 62nd place. The Middle East still falls behind the world’s top techsavvy countries, though. Sweden and Singapore topped the league table with the Netherlands (6th), the USA (8th) and the UK (10th) all finishing in the top 10. But it’s not all bad news for the Middle East as ‘superpower’ China somehow managed to finish 51st. The region continues to trump larges portions of South America and South East Asia.