According to the fifth World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006, there was a significant improvement in regulatory environment, governance, education, and training in some of the Philippines' neighboring countries in Asia, both in the Southeast and the Pacific. Some of these countries are Malaysia (24th from 27th), and Thailand (34th from 36th), while Indonesia finished at 68th place.

The survey was based on the Network Readiness Index (NRI), which refers to the degree of preparedness of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments. It is used to measure the tendency of countries to use ICT for development. The survey covered 115 countries worldwide.

The NRI determines a country's ICT condition based on three factors:

-- Macroeconomic, regulatory and infrastructure environment;

-- Readiness of individuals, businesses and governments to exploit IT and network technologies; and