This idiom is referring to the maturity of their tech industry at a high level, not their tooling (though that could be a minor part of it). As an example, a c

This idiom is referring to the maturity of their tech industry at a high level, not their tooling (though that could be a minor part of it). As an example, a country with paper-only tax filing might be said to be a decade behind a country with easy online e-file. It’s referring to the difference in technical capabilities, capacity, and/or innovation.