Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is delighted with the improvement in Thailand's rankings on the United Nations' E-Government Development Index (EGDI), which went up to 57th this year from 73rd in 2018, government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Sunday.
The index ranks countries based on their governments' deployment of technology to provide services for its citizens. The assessment, which is conducted every two years, is based on three components, namely the scope and quality of online services, status of telecommunication infrastructure and quality of human capacity.
Ms Narumon said Gen Prayut thanked all agencies responsible for Thailand's jump in the rankings, before adding the improvements were also due to reforms carried out under the national development strategy.
Thailand scored 0.756 on this year's index -- above the world's average of 0.598.
The 2020 ranking is led by Denmark, the Republic of Korea, and Estonia, followed by Finland, Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States of America and the Netherlands.
Denmark tops the index with a score of 0.975, while South Korea scored 0.956 this year.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore came out on top with a score of 0.915, ranking 11th in the world. The Asean average is 0.632.
"The pandemic has renewed and anchored the role of digital government -- both in its conventional delivery of digital services as well as new innovative efforts in managing the crisis," said Liu Zhenmin, UN Under‑Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.