Sunday Times 2
Germany is world’s most forward-thinking country — and Pakistan finishes last
View(s):By Kate Bevan
Germans are the most forward-thinking people on the planet according to researchers.
The scientists, based in the UK, Switzerland and the US, correlated data from Google searches and national economic performance.
They looked at the ‘mammoth amounts of data’ generated by our internet use, and discovered that there are ‘strong links between changes in the information users are seeking online and events in the real world’.
They analysed some 45 billion Google search queries and found ‘a striking correlation’ between the per capita GDP of a nation and the inclination of people to look to the future.
Dr Suzy Moat, co-author of the report, says the findings could reflect international differences in the type of information that people search for
Lead researcher Professor Tobias Preis of Warwick Business School said: ‘In general, we find a strong tendency for countries in which Google users enquire more about the future to exhibit a larger per capita GDP.
‘There seems to be a relationship with the economic success of a country and the information seeking behavior of its citizens online.’
The team first published a set of results last year.
For this year’s results, the team looked at data from Google Trends for 45 countries, and found that Germany is the most forward-looking nation – knocking the UK off the top spot from last year.
Brits topped the league table last year as people looked forward to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
This year Britain has dropped down to fourth place, swapping places with the Germans as they romp into the lead.
That could be because the Germans are focused on their federal elections later this year.
The biggest climbers on the Future Orientation Index are Nigeria and Japan.
However, right down the bottom of the list for the second year running is Pakistan, with Vietnam again in the penultimate slot.
To create the league table, the team counted the number of searches done about previous and forthcoming years – for example, searches done in 2009 on 2008 or 2010.
Then they divided the results by country and mapped them against each country’s per capita GDP – the measure of a country’s economic output divided by the number of people who live there.
Co-author Dr Suzy Moat added: ‘We see two leading explanations for this relationship between search activity and GDP.
‘Firstly, these findings may reflect international differences in attention to the future and the past, where a focus on the future supports economic success.
‘Secondly, these findings may reflect international differences in the type of information sought online, perhaps due to economic influences on available Internet infrastructure.’
© Daily Mail, London
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