TOP IN TECH United States Singapore Finland Sweden Denmark Canada Switzerland Norway Australia Iceland Germany Japan Netherlands Luxembourg United Kingdom Israel Taiwan Hong Kong France S.Korea

Singapore is in second place, with European nations such as Finland and Sweden accounting for 11 of the top 20.

Governments and companies should keep investing in IT if they want their economies to flourish, the WEF said.

It also may be one of the best ways for developing countries to close the gap between the rich and poor.

Bruno Lanvin of the World Bank said the "view that information technology and poverty reduction were at the two opposite ends of the spectrum of development policies" is outdated.

Improving telecommunications infrastructure, access to the Internet and computer skills can be a "very powerful tool to fight poverty," he said.

South Africa is the highest ranking African country in the survey, coming in 37th place. Tunisia is ranked 40th, with Mauritius placed 43rd and Botswana 55th.

The bottom five countries in the survey of 102 economies were Chad, Ethiopia, Haiti, Angola and Honduras.

According to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the WEF "more then ever, we must intensify our efforts to enable individuals, businesses and governments to benefit more fully from the use and application of information and communication technology".