SINGAPORE came out tops - ninth place out of 66 countries - in an information technology (IT) industry competitiveness study done by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIC), which was published on Tuesday.

This is up from 11th place in 2007, when the study was published for the first time by EIC, a research arm of the Economist group, which publishes The Economist.

The study measured and ranked the countries based on six indicators - IT infrastructure, IT talent, research and development, business environment and support for the IT industry.

Singapore shone in two areas. It ranked second in developing talent for the IT industry, after the United States; and came in third - after Norway and United Kingdom - for getting government's support for the IT industry.

However, the researchers identified two areas that still needed working on: research and development and intellectual property creation.

My Tony Nash, Asia director for country and economic research, said: 'Although the Singapore government has made it evident that there's a focus on IP and patents, the country is still relatively weak in it.

'Take for instance, Taiwan has one patent registered for every 2,000 people, but Singapore has only one patent for every 47,000 people.'

He added that, from studying several countries, it was found that research and development is one of the biggest contributors toward building a successful IT environment.

EIC also had this advice for countries like Singapore which are at the top of their game now: Do not rest on your laurels, for even countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam are emerging, and investing in IT.