SINGAPORE is second only to the United States when it comes to training and nurturing information technology talents. And when it comes to supporting the industry, the Republic's government is in the world's top three.

However, Singapore can improve on research and development and the creation of new intellectual property. It came in at No.12 out of 66 economies on this front.

Still, Singapore was ninth out of 66 economies overall in a study that measured how competitive and complete a country's IT industry and environment was.

It was in 11th place last year, when the study was released for the first time by the EIU, the research arm of the Economist group, which publishes the magazine of the same name.

Accounting for Singapore's improved showing were the country's IT infrastructure and better rankings for its legal environment and R&D.

The study, released yesterday, measured and ranked countries based on six indicators: IT infrastructure, talent, R&D, business and legal environment, intellectual protection and cybercrime laws, and government support for the IT industry.

R&D accounted for the largest portion of the final score - 25 per cent.

Mr Tony Nash, the Asia director for country and economic research of the EIU, said: 'Although the Singapore Government has made it evident that there's a focus on intellectual property and patents, the country is still relatively weak in this area.'

Taiwan ranked No.1 among all economies in this area.

Mr Nash said: 'Taiwan has one patent registered for every 2,000 people, but Singapore has only one patent for every 47,000 people.'

However, Singapore shone in two main areas: training and nurturing of IT talent, and government support for the IT industry. In the latter, it ranked third, coming in just after Norway and Britain.

Programmes such as Wireless@SG - the Infocomm Development Authority's broadband programme to create free wireless Internet access at hot spots throughout the island - have paid off.

Generally, Singapore performs well in IT compared with its neighbours, said researchers. Hong Kong came in at 21st, while Malaysia was 36th. Thailand ranked 42nd.

The top five performing Asian economies in the study, including Singapore, were South Korea, Japan, Australia and Taiwan, which made a strong leap to second place. All placed above Singapore, except Japan, which was in 12th place.

Mr Manoj Menon, a partner in market analysis firm Frost & Sullivan, said the study was a fair reflection of Singapore's efforts in IT.

As for its R&D showing compared with Taiwan, he said it was expected, given the latter's headstart.

'We are just at the starting point of our journey, and results will show after only a few years,' he said. 'Taiwan is different. It has a strong hardware manufacturing background from many years back. Its electronics, gadgets and designs have all competed on a global stage. That, and the growing power of China, have forced its people to be competitive.'

The EIU advises countries such as Singapore, which are at the top of their game, not to rest on their laurels, for even countries such as Vietnam are investing in IT and becoming 'emerging IT outsourcing industries'.

As Mr Nash put it: 'It is getting really competitive in Asia.'

tanwz@sph.com.sg