• Stockholm world’s 6th ‘best city’
• Sweden world’s second most innovative country

The World Wide Web Foundation has launched the Web Index – a new country-by-country global study that measures the impact of the web on the world’s people and nations.

Among the 61 countries surveyed, Sweden finished on top. It posted top-five rankings in every area except Web Use and Content, which were limited by the relatively small amount of online material in Swedish.

“Sweden scored highly for ‘impact of the web’, though it did less well in having a high quantity of content available to its population. The US, in second place, did well in terms of web content, but ranked lower for social, economic and political impact, and in infrastructure,” Jon Yeomans of ZDNet.com spelled out.

Six of the top 10 countries were European. As runner-up, the U.S. dominated Institutional Infrastructure and Content categories, but lagged behind Northern Europe in citizen use.

According to the research, fewer than one in three people use the Internet globally, falling to fewer than one in six in Africa.

The study is considered a ground-breaking look not only at the technology of the web but also measuring how well a country is allowing its citizens to share information online and ultimately impact society, pointed out The Daily Mail.