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28 March 2024

UAE climbs 21 places to rank 28th in the world in e-Government: UN

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By Staff

The United Arab Emirates has climbed 21 places to stand at 28th rank in the 2012 United Nations e-Government survey of more than 190 countries. It had stood at 49th rank in 2010.

The UAE leads the rest of the Arab World with Bahrain following in at 36th place. The top ranked country was South Korea, followed by Holland, Denmark, USA and France. The last at 190th was Somalia.

As recently as March 11, 2012, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, while chairing the UAE Cabinet, announced a full-scale adoption of electronic transformation with the "Minister eBriefcase" and "Knowledge Centre" initiatives.
 
The initiatives, available through iPad tablets distributed to Cabinet members, allows ministers to stay up-to-date and follow-up on the implementation of cabinet resolutions at different federal ministries. Ministers will also be able to access reports, important information, discuss meeting agendas and stay informed on the latest internationally-recognised best practices and research in their fields of specialty.

The UAE had an e-Government score of 0.734, much higher than the world average of 0.496. In all categories, the UAE had a higher than world average - Online Service Index of 0.863 [world average of 0.439]; Infrastructure Index 0.557 [0.326]; Human Capital Index score of 0.784 [0.721] and an e-Participation Index score of 0.737 against a world average of 0.268.

Bahrain saw it rank drop by 23 from 13th to 36, but third-ranked in the Arab World - Saudi Arabia, gained 17 to stand at 58th.

Qatar followed rising from 62nd place in 2010 to 48th,, but Kuwait dropped from 50th to 63rd. Oman improved from 82nd spot to 64th.

Across the region, Lebanon came in at 87th [93rd]; The Philippines at 88th [78th]; Sri Lanka at 115th [111th] and India at 124th against 119th in 2010. Pakistan too dropped to 156th from 146th place.

The United Nations said overall, progress in online service delivery continues in most countries around the world.

"The United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 finds that many have put in place e-government initiatives and information and communication technologies applications for the people to further enhance public sector efficiencies and streamline governance systems to support sustainable development.

Among the e-government leaders, innovative technology solutions have gained special recognition as the means to revitalise lagging economic and social sectors.

The overall conclusion that emerges from the 2012 Survey in today's recessionary world climate is that while it is important to continue with service delivery, governments must increasingly begin to rethink in terms of e-government – and e-governance – placing greater emphasis on institutional linkages between and among the tiered government structures in a bid to create synergy for inclusive sustainable development. An important aspect of this approach is to widen the scope of e-government for a transformative role of the government towards cohesive, coordinated, and integrated processes and institutions through which such sustainable development takes place.