Most Digitally Innovative Countries

With technology and businesses attempting to keep pace with the global growth of artificial intelligence and the increase in technological advancements in general, there is a rise on the competition for where the most successful innovation is occurring globally.

At KnownHost, research was conducted to find the most digitally innovative countries in the world. To determine the digital innovation of each country, data analysts gathered a seed list of 53 countries. Using several data points, including global digitalization, AI engagement, cybersecurity, unicorn startups and friendliest countries for startups.

Top 10 Most Digitally Innovative Countries

The top 10 most digitally innovative countries are as follows:

1. United States – Overall Score: 8.9
2. Singapore – Overall Score: 7.6
3. Denmark – Overall Score: 7.3
4. Sweden – Overall Score: 7.1
5. France – Overall Score: 7
6. Netherlands – Overall Score: 6.9
7. Switzerland – Overall Score: 6.8
8. United Kingdom – Overall Score: 6.6
9. Germany – Overall Score: 6.5
10. Canada – Overall Score: 6.4

Overall, European countries dominant the list with seven countries appearing, along with the United States, Canada and Singapore.

The Most Digitally Innovative Countries

The United States ranks first for the most innovative country out of the 53 that were analyzed with an overall score of 8.9. It ranks top on the Global Digitalization Index with 78.8 and the AI Engagement Index with 100. It also has the most active engagement with Digital Policy Alert with 4,956 events advancing changes to digital policies or regulations. It also has the highest number of unicorns (startup companies that are valued at over $1 billion that is privately owned) with 656. It is also ranked highest for being one of the friendliest countries for startups at with a score of 92 out of 100.

In second place is Singapore with an overall score of 7.6. It has the highest WiFi speed in the list with 386.96 Mbps for fixed broadband and also has the highest score on the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking at 100 out of 100. For the Global Digitalization Index, it also scores highly with 76.1 out of 100 and ranks 4^th for the Global Skills Report.

Denmark takes third place with an overall score of 7.3. It has a score of 100 for the Global Cybersecurity Index, which is a commitment to cybersecurity across various faculties. It also has the highest score in the top 3 for the Environmental Performance Index with 67.7 out of 100. It also has a high score on the Global Cybercrime Report with 92 out of 100 and has a score of 83 for also being one of the friendliest countries for startups.

Methodology 

Research was conducted on September 8th 2025, using a seed list of 53 countries. Each data point consists of the latest research available from reputable sources. All sources are country specific level data points. The data was standardized using minmax normalization. The minmax normalization value is multiplied by 10 to create a score (between 0-10). A score of 10 is always the best result, while a score of 0 is the worst. This was then weighted to place significance on WiFi Speed as this is paramount for digital innovation. The countries were then ranked based on their scores to find the most digitally innovative country.

Data Sources

• WiFi Speed – https://www.speedtest.net/global-index
• Environmental Performance Index – https://epi.yale.edu/measure/2024/EPI
• World Digital Competitiveness Ranking – https://imd.widen.net/s/xvhldkrrkw/20241111-wcc-digital-report-2024-wip
• Global Digitalization Index – https://www.huawei.com/en/gdi
• Global Skills Report ’25 (Global Rank) – https://www.coursera.org/skills-reports/global/get-report
• AI Engagement Index – https://apxml.com/posts/ai-engagement-index-country-rankings
• Global Cybersecurity Index – https://data360.worldbank.org/en/indicator/ITU_GCI_GCI_OVRL_SCRE
• Global Cybercrime Report (Cyber Safety Score) – https://mixmode.ai/blog/global-cybercrime-report-2024-which-countries-face-the-highest-risk/
• Digital Policy Alert (number of events advancing changes to policy/regulation) – https://digitalpolicyalert.org/activity-tracker?jurisdiction=840
• Unicorn Startups by Country – https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/unicorns-by-country
• Friendliest Countries for Startups – https://ceoworld.biz/2024/04/09/ranked-worlds-most-startup-friendly-countries-2024/