Political think tank Praxis has analyzed why Estonia is not doing so well on international ICT evaluative indexes and found the reason to be tied in part to flaws in the two leading indexes’ methodologies.

The Praxis study, ordered by the ICT Demo Center, highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Estonia’s position in the World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index and the United Nations’ E-Government Development Index.

Although the indexes are globally recognized, the analysis found that Estonia’s past contribution to information and communication development is not reflected in them, a January 22 statement from Praxis said.

The country’s less-than ideal position on the indexes is caused by the way the research is conducted and Estonia has no way of directly improving its score, the group said.

Indrek Vimberg, head of the Demo Center, said the indexes matter a great deal in portraying an image to the outside world.

“Our true positioning on the e-services market is of vital importance to Estonian IT companies,” he said, adding that potential export deals could be helped by the success stories of those companies.

The authors of the study recommended that those who compile the indexes be kept notified of developments in Estonia.

Praxis further recommended that Estonia create a domestic ICT monitoring system. ICT sector firms and government institutions have already agreed to cooperate on plans for such a system, the organization said.