Johannesburg has slipped a number of spots in the latest Networked Society City Index; however, some progress is still being made and there are signs of improvements.
The 2016 edition of the report, compiled by Ericsson and released on Wednesday, ranked Johannesburg at 35, down from the 29 recorded in 2014, with the city performing better in the triple bottom line dimension than in information and communication technology (ICT) maturity.
The index ranked 41 cities on sustainable urban development and ICT maturity, as well as the triple bottom line - social, environmental and economic – development.
With Gauteng’s ambitions of providing affordable high-speed broadband, ICT infrastructure in Johannesburg was developing rapidly, with the city’s “relative strength” now lying in its mobile broadband quality, which was above the index average.
“In spite of the fact that Johannesburg and Lagos started at a low level, these cities are progressing in all ICT dimensions of the index, which include infrastructure, affordability and use,” the report noted.
Johannesburg scored well in the social dimension; however, it achieved only an average score in the environmental dimension, which was based on high use of sustainable transport and low energy consumption.
Lagos, which had slipped from 38 in 2014 to 40 in the overall ranking in 2016, was one of the better performing cities in the environmental aspect.
“Cities in this category perform well with regard to carbon emissions and energy usage per capita but experience high levels of pollution,” the report highlighted.
Lagos faced several ICT infrastructure challenges; however, while still below the index average, the Nigerian city’s results for Internet use and electronic payments improved.
“The 2016 Networked Society City Index reveals rapid changes in technology and its uptake by people in urban centres worldwide, as cities shift toward an even more Networked Society. The current data shows a clear improvement in ICT infrastructure in cities around the world,” Ericsson said.
Overall, Stockholm once again secured the top spot, leading London, which also maintained its second place.
Singapore and Paris swapped places, coming in at number three and four respectively, while Copenhagen held onto its fifth place ranking in the Networked Society City Index 2016.
Moscow ranked at 21 in 2016, Mumbai came in at 36, Shanghai at 31, Sao Paulo at 25 and Hong Kong achieved a ranking of 14.