The United States, South Korea, and the United Kingdom ranked as the three countries in the G20 most ready to contribute to and benefit from the IoT, according to IDC.
The research firm said the US scored particularly well on measures such as ease of doing business, government effectiveness, innovation, and cloud infrastructure, as well as technology spending as a percent of GDP.
Meanwhile, South Korea scored extremely well on IoT-specific spending and has a business environment that fosters innovation and promotes attractive investment opportunities.
Similarly, the UK scored very highly on measures of ease of doing business, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, start-up procedures, innovation, and broadband penetration.
The standout country in the ranking, however, proved to be Australia, which, despite its relatively small GDP, scored exceptionally high on ease of doing business and start-up procedures, government effectiveness and regulatory quality, and innovation and education.
The original index was first published in 2013 but the updated index is now comprised of 13 criteria that IDC views as necessary for sustained development of the IoT and reflects each nation's economic stature, technological preparedness, and business readiness to benefit from the efficiencies linked to IoT solutions.
"Countries are keen to become or maintain a competitive advantage and, as such, are looking to the Internet of Things as one of those initiatives," said Vernon Turner, senior vice president, Enterprise Systems and IDC fellow for the IoT.
"Knowing where a country stands in the IoT Index will help global and local IT vendors know what opportunities lie ahead of them as they line up their strategies at federal, local, and enterprise levels."