The UK has slipped three places down the global rankings for IT competitiveness this year, coming in at a disappointing sixth place.

This is according to a Business Software Alliance (BSA)-commissioned study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which looks at the IT environments of 66 countries and measures 26 separate indicators grouped into six different categories: IT and communications infrastructure, local talent, R&D, the legal regime, government support for the IT industry and the attractiveness of the business environment.

Topping the list for 2009 was the US, followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands.

According to the BSA, the UK has slipped because other countries, particularly northern European countries, have put in a better performance.

Lisa Randles, EMEA communications director for the BSA, said: “Changes in the methodology this year added mobile penetration, increased the weight of broadband penetration and more accurately reflect IT employment and IT patents figures. This had the effect of bumping up countries like Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, the strength of which had been underestimated in previous years.

“It shows that the UK has serious competitors in terms of protecting growth in its IT sector,” Randles said. “The UK needs to address its weaker points – mainly the R&D environment and the legal environment where the UK received a relatively low score for cybercrime legislation because it has yet to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.”

She said the findings do have an impact on the channel.

“Growth in the domestic IT industry means growth for the channel, so it is in the entire industry’s interest to push the government on addressing the six competitiveness enablers to support further development of the UK IT sector,” she added.