The Philippines is among a group of countries where the growth, usefulness and impact of the World Wide Web exceeds expectations, a recent report showed.
The country placed 32nd out of 61 in the first Web Index ranking released Thursday by the World Wide Web Foundation. The group is led by British Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee.
The Web Index incorporates indicators which assess Web connectivity and infrastructure as well as its political, economic and social impact, the group said.
It added that the ranking is "meant to underscore the true criticality of the Web in improving the lives of billions of people around the world."
The Philippines posted a Web Index score of 46.81 points and ranked mid-range in all three sub-indices in the report.
It placed 33rd in terms of the Web readiness sub-index, which the report said "examines the quality and extent" of communications and institutional infrastructure.
The Philippines had the same rank in terms of the Web use and content sub-index.
It meanwhile bagged the 32nd place in terms of the impact sub-index, which accounts for social, economic and political impact.
Among Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines emerged as the second best performer, topped only by Singapore, which ranked 11th.
The Philippines fared better than Indonesia (34th), Thailand (37th), Vietnam (47th) and Bangladesh (55th).
The Philippines, along with several other countries, also "seemed to outperform in the index" relative their economic status based on per capita income, the report noted.
Ranking 43rd in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita did not seem to dampen the Philppine's Web Index performance.
Other countries with similar performances were New Zealand, which ranked 7th in the Web Index versus 18th in terms of GDP per capita; India, 33rd versus 44th; and Kenya, 42nd versus 53rd.
In contrast, some countries "stood out as underperforming in the index" vis-a-vis their economic standing, the report said.
These are Qatar, which ranked 21st in the Web index despite being the richest country in the list; Namibia, 56th versus 38th; and Argentina, 38th versus 24th.
The report, however, noted that the links between the Web Index rankings and GDP per capita have yet been established.
The top ten countries in the list were Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdon, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Norway and Ireland.
At the bottom of the list, meanwhile, were Yemen, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ethiopia, Namibia, Bangladesh, Mali, Cameroon and Nepal.
"The aim of this year’s Web Index is to help begin a useful discussion among corporate executives, government officials, policy-makers and other stakeholders around how access to and use of the Web can be improved," the report said.
This, as it noted that "a parallel expectation is that governments will evolve and citizens will participate far more often and deeply in debate and discussion around key global issues."
Reelectionist Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV became the last senator-elect to have his arms raised by poll officials after the May 13 elections.
