DETERMINING DIGITAL READINESS LEVELS OF THE OECD COUNTRIES WITH CRITIC-BASED ARAS METHOD

Abstract

Digitalization plays a significant role in the economic growth and development of countries. The attempts at digitalization made by some countries can influence the type of digitalization strategies, economic activities, and digital readiness initiatives that other countries of the world apply. This study aimed to determine the digital readiness levels of 38 OECD member countries. The CRITIC-based ARAS method, a multiple-criteria decision making method, was used to calculate their digital readiness levels and rank them accordingly. In calculating the significance weights with the CRITIC method, Basic Needs was identified as the most important criterion, followed by Business and Government Investment, Human Capital, Start-up Environment, Ease of Doing Business, Technology Adoption and Technology Infrastructure, in respective order of importance. From the results of the analyses conducted with the ARAS method using the weights determined through the CRITIC method, the rankings of the OECD member countries in terms of their digital readiness levels were obtained. According to these results, the top five countries for digital readiness levels were Luxembourg, the USA, Switzerland, Korea, and Iceland, while Costa Rica, Greece, Turkey, Colombia, and Mexico were the lowest ranked countries.