Complete 7 pages APA formatted article: How Can Bolivia Improve Its NRI Score

The country selected for the purpose of this research paper is Bolivia, which is located in Latin America. It has a low human development index and a small Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of 2001, the country had only 0.38 research professionals per thousand of its labor force. (Villavicencio and Zamalvide, 2008)

The Global IT Report of 2012 reveals that Bolivia has a score of 2.9 as per the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) (World Economic Forum and INSEAD, 2012, p. 188). It has obtained a rank of 127 out of 142 countries on the overall performance parameters of NRI.

Some tacit realities regarding Bolivia

Studying the data regarding “Business and innovation environment” (World Economic Forum and INSEAD, 2012, p. 188), one must admit that the country lags behind in the number of students receiving tertiary education and quality of management schools. On a scale of 1 (worst) through 7 (best), the country scores only 2.9 in the availability of venture capital that might help to start new businesses. Further, due to regulatory complexities, it takes over four months to start a new business in the country!

However, in evaluating the social environment, it is interesting to note that although the state of higher education is not good in the country (Villavicencio and Zamalvide, 2008), mobile phone subscription rates are relatively high. According to the Global IT Report of 2012, there are 72.3 mobile phone subscriptions among every 100 persons (Bolivia’s ranks 105 according to this indicator). On the other hand, broadband Internet subscription rates are extremely low along with a poor “Firm-level technology absorption” rank of 139 (World Economic Forum and INSEAD, 2012, p. 188).

Regarding the situation of governance, Bolivia must overcome lots of challenges. Examining the list of countries according to the situation of the “Laws relating to ICT” (World Economic Forum and INSEAD, 2012, p. 325).