The U.S. and Japan have <A HREF="http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/11/US-and-Japan-have-best-IT-environments_1.html">the top national environments for their IT industries</A> to grow and flourish, including intellectual-property protections and IT infrastructure, according to a study released by the Business Software Alliance.

The study, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked 64 nations on several factors, such as PC ownership, broadband adoption, government regulation, enrollment in higher education, IT employment, research and development spending, and cybercrime laws.

Using 25 weighted factors, the EIU ranked the U.S. first in IT competitiveness and Japan second. Also in the top five: South Korea, the U.K., and Australia.

India ranked 46th out of 64 countries included in the study, while China ranked 49th. Iran, Nigeria, and Azerbaijan were the bottom three on the list.