The World Economic Forum has ranked the country 14th among one-hundred-15 countries in its networked readiness index.

The Geneva-based forum's annual report ranked the United States first for the third straight year, followed by Singapore at second place.

The index measures a country's propensity to use opportunities from information and communication technology for development and increased competitiveness.

Among Asian nations, Taiwan was seventh and Hong Kong eleventh. Japan fell from eighth to 16th due to costly phone charges and complicated procedures for starting a business.