The United Arab Emirates ranked first in the Gulf, Arab, and Western Asia, and the eighth globally in the Smart Services Index issued by the United Nations within the overall index of e-government development, as it ranked fourth in Asia in this indicator, and advanced one place in the digital participation index To 16th place after it was 17th in the previous session of the 2018 index. According to the same questionnaire, the UAE achieved the seventh position in the ICT Infrastructure Index.

The questionnaire at its current session focused on the role of countries in serving the goals of the United Nations for sustainable development, especially the slogan "We will not leave anyone behind" and the role of digital transformation programs in narrowing the gap between segments of society in various fields. The questionnaire touched on government programs around the world in engaging the public’s audience in developing services, policies and programs that benefit everyone.

The UAE has achieved the aggregate index ranked 21 globally, knowing that it is a composite index that consists of sub-indices, which are smart services, human capital, and the infrastructure of the communications and information technology sector, in addition to the digital participation index that falls within the smart services.

With this result, the UAE confirms its Arab leadership in the most important indicators related to digital transformation, which reflects its global position and its leadership in adopting the principles of the future government that are based on absorbing advanced technologies and in the forefront of them information and communication technologies, and using them to provide easy and interactive government services to the audience of customers. The results also confirm the global role of the UAE in implementing the sustainable development goals, as it was one of the first countries to establish a specialized platform for this matter in cooperation with the United Nations and relevant international bodies.

After the UAE, it ranked second in the Gulf in the e-government development index, the sister kingdom of Bahrain, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in third place, then Kuwait fourth, and the Sultanate of Oman fifth.

The UAE ranked fourth on the Asian continent in the smart services index after Korea, Singapore and Kazakhstan, and China and Japan share fourth place with the UAE.

The questionnaire highlighted distinguished Emirati experiences in interacting with customers, and singled out a space for the application of Ramas launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which is a virtual employee embodying the strategy of the Authority in employing artificial intelligence technologies in all its operations and services. The application includes the feature of direct voice chat in both Arabic and English, where an oral question can be directed to "Ramas" to get the answer immediately.

Emirati experience in sharing

Despite the intense competition between countries in the digital participation index, the UAE has achieved a breakthrough by advancing one point and reaching the 16th position, which reflects the keenness of digital transformation programs in the country to implement the wise leadership directives by engaging the various segments of society in designing services and policies that feed the happiness of society .

The e-participation index is one of the complementary criteria for the United Nations questionnaire, and it is measured through three levels, starting with the level of information provision, then the level of public consultations, and then the level of decision-making based on the results of public consultations and participation.

On the results, the head of the digital government of the Emirates government, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, said: “Despite the intensity of competition between countries, the UAE with these results maintains its position among the most advanced countries in digital transformation. Competition is more difficult, but it is with the guidance of our wise leadership, our national competencies, and our accumulated experiences in this field, and we are determined that our country will be among the best countries in the world, and we will achieve this with our cooperation and knowledge as a team. These results place upon us new challenges that we will face with more work to achieve the first position in smart services Worldwide, God willing. "

Al-Mansouri added: “In this context, I thank all government agencies that worked together hand in hand to implement the concepts of a unified and integrated e-government within the framework of the executive team for the Smart Services Index, and I wish them more innovation during the remainder of the 2022 questionnaire, and I am confident that we will be When our leadership thought good about us. "

For his part, Acting Deputy Director General of the Communications Regulatory Authority - Smart Government Sector and Chairman of the Executive Team for the Smart Services Index Salem Al Hosni said: “I congratulate my colleagues in the Executive Team for the Smart Services Index on their efforts during the past two years. We have worked together as one family, we have drawn up plans, and we have constantly reviewed them And we have developed our work, and have seen the global experiences, and we have taken the needs of the customers into consideration, and we have continued our meetings regularly in order to unify understanding and coordinate efforts, and we have achieved what we have achieved, and we are ready for the next stage, God willing, and we will work in the same spirit to achieve more progress in the smart services index and related indicators . "  

The questionnaire commended the United Nations on the UAE's success in engaging citizens and residents in designing public services, providing incentives through gamification techniques, and providing customer happiness services around the clock.

The questionnaire also praised the strength of the communications and information technology infrastructure in the Emirates, confirming that the UAE is taking steps to employ emerging and advanced technologies to provide services that meet the needs and aspirations of people. The report stated that the UAE launched several advanced strategies in the field of digital transformation, including the Dubai Smart Strategy, the Blockchain that aims to achieve 50% of the Blockchain transactions by 2021, and the Artificial Intelligence strategy.

These results come soon after the country leads many centers in the global indicators in terms of the development of digital infrastructure. As the UAE achieved a leading position in the maturity index of e-government and mobile services, and in broadband subscriptions and mobile phone coverage, it also ranked first regionally in the transition to the sixth version of the Internet Protocol, and the first in the Arab world and the fourth in the world in the launch of the fifth generation networks.

one team

This achievement by the state comes as a result of the great work done by the national team for the smart services index, which includes representatives from 11 federal and local government agencies, and its priorities are to provide a sustainable environment and integrated infrastructure and work to achieve the goals set at the global level. The team works according to the most important global trends in the e-government survey, which is bridging the digital divide, open data, promoting usage, multi-channel services, interconnected government, and electronic participation.

The team has worked during the past two years to promote the application of the principles and orientations of the system of government excellence, the most prominent of which is the exploitation of all future opportunities, and contribute to the development of proactive and flexible governmental bodies to build readiness for the future through innovation, modernity and leadership of entrepreneurial and creative thinking, and contribute to achieving principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Focusing on the concepts and values ​​of digital participation, open data and the provision of high-quality services.

In turn, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has made unremitting efforts to accelerate the digital transformation in the country and enhance the electronic presence of the smart government to help enhance the country's position in the mentioned index. As the authority worked on developing the official portal of the state’s government, it launched the new domain for the portal U.ae, which is the first and only domain in the world that consists of one letter, and the content and electronic participation team in the authority developed and implemented the national strategy for digital participation in order to enhance participation in the development of services and policies And involving people in building future directions for the federal government to ensure their happiness and quality of life, and activating the role of localities in digital participation, being the closest to all aspects of the lives of dealers, and activating digital participation at the national, regional and global levels.

The authority also worked on the smart government empowerment project, which is to help the federal government agencies to enhance their smart sites and services. The Authority also undertakes the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan for electronic participation, including the management of the official portal for electronic participation, Share.ae. The authority works closely with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority to enrich and develop the open data portal.

Our digital identity

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) stressed that the innovative smart services launched by the state played a big role in achieving these advanced results, and among these services is the digital identity that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority launched in partnership with Abu Dhabi Digital and Dubai Smart, as the past months have proven the importance of this service being The concept of unified government and integrated services embodied in the context of the digital transformation, as the number of users increased to 477,000 during the first six months of the year 2020, and the use of the digital signature increased by 211%, more than double in less than one month (March 15 to 14 April).

15 minutes - start your business

The Do It Business service embodied the great progress made by the UAE in the field of digital transformation and the digital economy, as this integrated electronic service allows investors to establish companies in the UAE electronically (remotely) through an integrated electronic platform integrated with the departments and federal and local government agencies concerned with licensing economic activities In the country within minutes, using a fast, easy and safe procedure, and without the need for investors to visit any government agency, and without any additional fees for using this service.

Congratulations what yak

The Mabrouk service is a smart and innovative service that facilitated the process of issuing documents for newborns, as this service provides new citizens with five services in one online service, whereby a newborn can issue a birth certificate, ID card, and passport. And add it in the summary of registration and population record, by submitting one application online.

Federal Electronic Network

The Federal Electronic Network (FedNet) is also part of the efforts of the government of the United Arab Emirates, which contributed to raising the country on the United Nations index for smart services, as this network aims to establish a smart government that provides easy and fast services to people around the clock and from anywhere. This is in line with the Emirates vision 2021 to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world, which includes achieving happiness for citizens and residents. The Federal Electronic Network project grew out of the national plan for smart government in the UAE, specifically the goal of creating a smart infrastructure.

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