(Yicai Global) Dec. 4 -- The World Internet Development Report 2017 released today catalogs for the first time the world internet development index system, which shows the web levels of the US, China and South Korea ranking top three in the world, as China News Service reported.

The Fourth World Internet Conference (WIC) currently underway in Wuzhen in China's southeastern Zhejiang province witnessed the busiest day on the forum's agenda today.

In the morning, two heavyweight blue books -- the World Internet Development Report 2017 and China Internet Development Report 2017 -- issued in Wuzhen to fully reflect the current situation and future trends in internet development in China and various other countries.

The explosion of the global mobile internet is ending and the scale of the world's internet access growth is entering a period of dynamic transition, the report noted, shifting from an 'internet of everywhere' to an 'internet of everything.'

Emerging network information technologies such as artificial intelligence have become the new arena for global competition in science and technology. The digital economy has become the new impetus for economic growth in all countries in the world, and cyberspace has become a new realm for reform of the global governance system.

"In the general section of the two blue books, we also for the first time formulated and propagated the world internet development index system and China Internet development index system, which fill in the blanks in the comprehensive index of internet development at home and abroad," said the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace, the report's publisher, adding that this is an important achievement and major innovation.

The academy reportedly postulated six indicators while devising and evaluating the world internet development index system, including infrastructure, innovation capability, industry development, network applications, network security and network governance, which factor in aggregate and per capita indicators to comprehensively assess internet development levels in 38 major countries and emerging economies.

The results show that the US, China, South Korea, Japan and the UK ranked in the top five. Developed economies have the highest average level of internet development, followed by other European and emerging Asian countries. Developing countries and regions in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa are intensifying their internet progress efforts.

Domestically, the report analyzed and evaluated the effectiveness and level of internet development in all of China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in infrastructure construction, innovation capability, development of a digital economy, internet applications, network security and network management. Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai ranked the top five in this composite index.