Countries in Asia Pacific and Australasia dominate the top five spots in a new index detailing a nation’s ability to deploy mobile health, finance, and education.
The index, drawn up by the Economist’s Intelligence Unit (EIU), ranks the ability of countries to develop next generation mobile applications covering the three sectors based on current 4G coverage and services. South Korea tops the list, followed by Japan, Australia, the US, and UK, all of which have high penetration of smartphones and mobile broadband networks.
Mobile health, finance, and education services have the potential to boost a nation’s GDP, and the index rates countries by their ability to change face-to-face interactions across the three sectors to mobile.
The EIU estimates the greatest economic benefits of the three services will be felt in countries that are only just starting to rollout 4G networks such as the UK, or those like China with deployments in the pipeline.
Recent research by Telefonica found that 70% of chronically ill patients, and 80% of doctors, are willing to use telemedicine services.