3.1 A Comparative Assessment The e‐government readiness index measures the capacity and willingness of a country to use technology for ICT enabled development. It is an overall assessment of how a country is using information technologies to promote access and inclusion of its citizens. It takes into account the government’s use of the Internet and other technological advancements for the provision of information, products and services. The e‐government readiness index is a composite measure that not only assesses patterns of web development in the public sector, but includes other factors that influence e‐government such as access characteristics, telecommunications infrastructure and investment in education. The scores and rankings for selected country are presented in the accompanying graph for 2008. Mauritius and Barbados were ranked 52nd and 61st position respectively out of 192 countries surveyed. St. Lucia was ranked 74th ahead of St. Vincent and Dominica. This benchmarking exercise allows us to view a snapshot of St. Lucia’s level of e‐readiness in comparison to other similar jurisdictions. The rankings can also provide us with guidance as to which countries we may want to collaborate with in order to learn from their development experiences. More comparative information and analysis can be found in the associated 2010 E‐ Readiness and Benchmarking Report. e‐Government Readiness Index 0 0.9 20 40 UN Ranking 60 Index 100 120 140 UN Ranking Index Score Ranking 80 Trini St. Seyc dad Baha Barb Domi Maur St. St. Vince helle & mas ados nica itius Kitts Lucia Toba nt s go 67 61 119 52 63 74 88 63 0.0 66 0.491 0.567 0.375 0.509 0.481 0.475 0.431 0.488 0.531 UN e‐Government Survey 2008, United Nations (191 Member States) [13]