UAE leads Arab world in UN e-services index

dubai - The UAE has moved up four places in its position in the UN e-smart services index

The UAE leads the Arab world in the United Nations' e-services index and the country also figures among top 10 countries globally.

The UAE has moved up four places in its position in the e-smart services index of the E-Government Development Index, or EGDI, issued by the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs.

The EGDI is an important component in the overall index used to determine growth in e-government development.

The current ranking consolidates the UAE's regional leadership in the e-services index, ranking first place in the Gulf, the Arab world and the West Asian region, and third in Asia.

For the e-participation index, the UAE and Bahrain are ranked number one in the Arab world and are also tied at 32nd place globally.

E-governance
The report shows that the UAE is listed among the world's leading countries in terms of the level of progress in e-governance. The UAE is also among the world's leading countries in terms of e-participation.

The report indicates that the UAE has achieved full marks in the second level of services provided by the government. The overall index is composed of three indices; e-services, human capital and communications infrastructure. The UAE ranked 29th globally, jumping up three positions from 2014.

The report listed the UAE and Bahrain among global leaders in the e-government development index, with the UK in first place, followed by Australia and South Korea.

Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, director-general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, or TRA, said: "We are very thankful for the positive results the UAE has achieved in this report, particularly the achievement of being ranked third in the smart e-Service Index. We are coming close to our goal of being number one in the world. We are aware that when we get closer to the summit, the competition becomes fiercer and accordingly, we promise our wise leadership to exert more efforts in order to continue working tirelessly and not lose direction in our quest no matter how intense the challenges will be. Today, we are ranked eighth and look forward to being ranked first in 2021. This is not an option, but a commitment for us to achieve and live up to."
Al Mansoori added: "The UAE's bright image across the world can be attributed to the collective efforts of various parties and not just that of an individual or a small team. This achievement shows that we can obtain positive results through perseverance, cooperation and hard work."

The report puts the spotlight on the development of e-government across 193 countries from all over the world, through the measurement of EGDI.

The evaluation of the United Nations for e-government 2016 focuses on the ability of countries to employ programmes of the e-government to serve the 17th development goals, including good education, good health and well-being, gender equality, clean energy, decent work and growth of the economy, industry and innovation and main infrastructures, cities and sustainable communities, and climate, among others.

- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com