Dr. the Hon. Grant Gibbons JP, MP, Minister of Education and Economic Development today announced that the UK magazine, World Commerce Review, has named Bermuda the winner of the Best Digital Jurisdiction Award for 2014 for the second year running. This is a unique achievement in this category.

The World Commerce Review Awards are recognised as the principal indicators of professional conduct and excellence.

Dr. Gibbons commented: “The Bermuda Government is accepting this award on behalf of the ICT sector, the local and international companies that use and promote e-business, and our citizens who value and appreciate the opportunities that technology provides. They are our partners in advancing the digital economy in Bermuda and this award is a testament to that productive and fruitful relationship. I would like to congratulate and thank them all for contributing to this distinction that Bermuda has once again received.”

In naming Bermuda the Best Digital Jurisdiction, the selection took into account the regulatory and policy environment, infrastructure, product innovation, on-going customer support and best practice criteria as well as a continuing commitment to deploying the best possible solutions for the benefit of their clients.

Bermuda has been known as the ‘Wired Island’ for well over a decade. In the last four Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) digital economy studies, Bermuda has consistently been ranked in the top 22 countries in the world for e-readiness, and is the smallest country to hold that record. The island is a world leader in insurance, reinsurance, international business and finance and as such, demands a sophisticated ICT sector combined with a first rate telecommunications infrastructure that includes a redundancy capability of five trans-Atlantic fibre optic cables linking Bermuda to the rest of the world.

International businesses can expect to find the full complement of IT services and support, including software development and gold standard customer service from the providers. Cloud, security and digital certificate services are prevalent along with hosting, business continuity and disaster recovery providers.

One of the first in the world to adopt an Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) in 1999, Bermuda is developing privacy legislation with the intent of facilitating and protecting transnational data flows and providing an additional level of comfort for international customers who have data hosted in a Bermuda cloud.

About World Commerce Review

WCR is the principal B2B publication available today, enjoying editorial and advertising support from some of the world’s leading business and political organisations.

WCR exists to realise the potential of globalisation, reviewing the legal, financial and system requirements of 21^st century business. Today’s corporate business environment requires strategic planning that is flexible and progressive. WCR provides a balanced, objective view of the political, regulatory, cultural, legal, financial and economic requirements needed to form an effective strategy for taking advantage of the opportunities that globalisation offers.