Digital UAE 2023 -Factsheet

Find the Digital UAE 2023 - Factsheet (PDF, 123 MB).

Digital Lifestyle in the UAE

The UAE was among the world’s leading countries in various digital life indexes, due to the significant advancement of its information and communication technology sector. Read full report Digital Lifestyle in the UAE (PDF, 2.07 MB). 

Digital Transformation Enablers in the UAE -2021

Read the report 'Digital Transformation Enablers in the UAE 2021- Towards a 100 per cent Digital Government' (PDF, 2.94 MB) - TDRA 

The UAE Digital Transformation Report 2020

The UAE Digital Transformation Report 2020 issued by Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, highlights the competitive position of the UAE as per several global competitiveness reports. It describes the UAE’s achievements in digital transformation and their impact on the improvement of quality of government service, and customer happiness and experience.

 

The UAE was ranked first globally in 23 indicators in vital sectors which include: telecommunications, health, residency and labour. It was ranked amongst the best 5 countries in 59 indicators, and one of the best 10 in 106 indicators.

 

The UAE’s rank in global indices

The UAE was ranked first in the following indices in 2020:

• Mobile broadband Internet subscriptions
• Mobile broadband subscriptions
• Mobile network coverage per population
• Wireless broadband
• Number of accredited health facilities
• Low prevalence of human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV)
• Healthcare coverage
• Low incidence of malaria
• Residency flexibility
• Terms of trade
• Public privative partnership
• Employment rate
• Absence of bureaucracy
• Competent senior managers
• Entrepreneurship.

 

Major digital achievements until 2020

The Digital Transformation Report 2020 touched on the major digital achievements in 10 main sectors which include:

Education

In the field of education, the UAE launched:

• Madrasa (the eLearning platform) that teaches students in grades 1-12; currently 50 million students benefit from the initiative, free of charge
• Global eTeacher Certificate from the Higher Colleges of Technology
• The Digital School
• Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, the first college of artificial intelligence at the national level, which provides the degree of Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence
• Mohammed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the first university for postgraduate studies in Artificial Intelligence research worldwide.

   

  Health

  In the field of health, the UAE launched:

• the E-Health Information System ‘Wareed’, an integrated electronic system for managing health information in all hospitals and healthcare centres of Ministry of Health and Prevention
• smart robotic pharmacy in Fujairah, where robots dispense drugs within 8-12 seconds
• a smart centre in Rashid Hospital that works around the clock
• telemedicine services
• the smart system for the Registered Medical Products Directory.
  

   

  Human and societal development

  In the field of human and societal development, the UAE launched:

• the Inclusive initiative, which links ministries and authorities electronically to provide services to people of determination in a timely and cost effective manner
• Federal Government’s HR Management Information System ‘BAYANATI’, an integrated electronic system for the employees and federal government entities.

   

  Economy

  In the field of economy, the UAE launched:

• Basher, a digital platform that helps to establish business in the UAE within 15 minutes
• 50x50 Competitiveness Race to find solutions for 50 indicators within 50 days
• National open data portal to provide data using artificial intelligence and to engage with users via chatbot named Bayan that uses linguistic analysis
• the Sustainable Development Goals Platform, the first platform of its kind in the region, and the UAE SDG Data Hub
• UAE makes, the first global digital platform that contains information about the UAE’s industrial sector and an interactive map of 8,000 factories in the country
• Data Science Lab, the first lab of its kind at the regional level, which made 637 datasets available for Smart Dubai via the Dubai Pulse platform
• the largest vertical farm in the UAE at Al Maktoum International Airport to ensure food security
• UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2017-2031 to plan for development in services sector and future infrastructure
• Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 to transform 50 per cent of federal government transactions into the blockchain platform by 2021 and save billions spent on paper documents.

  The UAE achieved an increase of 300 per cent in eCommerce over 2019.

   

  Telecommunications

  The UAE’s achievements in the field of telecommunications include:

• being elected Head of the permanent Arab Management Group for Frequency Spectrum at the Arab League in 2008
• hosting the Plenipotentiary Conference 2018.

   

  Cybersecurity

  In the field of cybersecurity, the UAE launched:

• E-Police in your Mobile, an application from Ministry of Interior that enables users to create reports interactively and complete their transactions with police stations easily, from anywhere
• Advanced Mobile Location, a service that activates the caller’s location
• Hassantuk (fire protection system), a smart system for fire protection targeting 500,000 buildings and residences
• Child Digital Safety, an initiative to educate children about the challenges of the digital world
• My Safe Society, an app that enables people to report a crime or suspicious activity to the Public Prosecutor. The app is available on App Store and Google Play.
• CYBER C3 Certification
• Emirates Cyber Ambassadors initiative to provide training to students between 14 and 18 on safe e-culture
• National Cybersecurity Strategy 2019 that aims to create a safe and strong cyber infrastructure
• Dubai Cyber Security Strategy with an aim to strengthen Dubai's position as a leader in innovation, safety and security.

   

  Capacity development

  The UAE established training courses, workshops and scholarships to develop digital skills. Efforts included the launch of:

• TDRA Virtual Academy
• Centre of Digital Innovation (CoDI)
• The TRA’s Innovation Camp
• EBTIC – Etisalat BT Innovation Centre
• Betha Scholarship Programme – providing scholarships in ICT and related fields.

   

  Digital laws and policies

  The UAE launched several guidelines to enhance the quality of websites and encourage digital participation and usage of data. It launched:

• web content guidelines for government websites
• guidelines for digital participation and social media practices in government entities
• guidelines for federal websites
• UAE Smart Data Framework, with an aim to enhance digital readiness of data and accelerate digital transformation in the UAE
• Laws and regulations related to web activities.

   

  Digital government and smart cities

  The UAE’s achievements in the field of digital government and smart cities include the launch of:

• the official portal of the UAE Government, which received 19,828,454 visits in 2020
• the UAE Hackathon, an annual competition in which participants use data to find solutions to improve services and increase society happiness and individual wellbeing
• the federal network (FedNet) which connects 62 entities to provide a smart infrastructure for digital government services
• the UAEPass which helps users to get the services of 114 government entities easily through the UAEPass app
• the National Customer Relation Management System (171Tawasul), a central platform for customers to send complaints and suggestions to improve government services
• Service1 centre, the first centre globally to design and provide government services in Dubai
• Tamm portal, a smart service portal that serves 12 sectors in Abu Dhabi
• Smart Driving Test Project by Abu Dhabi Police
• AI Lab, a project developed by Department of Health - Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Centre for Public Health to develop healthcare solutions based on artificial intelligence
• Happiness Meter, a smart tool to gauge society’s happiness with Dubai Government’s app
• DubaiNow, a unified platform to get services of Dubai Government
• Dubai Paperless Strategy, which aims to build a perfectly integrated paperless government framework
• Mosque Smart Inspector, an application through which users can provide suggestions to improve the standard of services
• Ajman services bus, a unified platform for data exchange
• SmartUAQ app, which connects 110 government entities in Umm Al Quwain
• Digital marriage contract authorisation in RAK
• Fujairah Innovate, an initiative that engages the public to get ideas to improve the services of government entities.

  In addition, the UAE adopted the Internet Protocol Version 6.0 (IPv6).

   

  Sustainable environment and integrated infrastructure

           The UAE’s achievements in the field of sustainable environment and integrated infrastructure include the launch of:

• Unified National Digital Housing Platform Initiative ‘Al Zajil’, which unifies housing and other related data to design the citizen’s journey to have a residence
• National Waste Database, a platform launched by Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to manage waste scientifically based on data analysis
• Seniar app for smart navigation
• 3D printed government offices
• National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031, which aims to make the UAE a world leader in quality of life
• Advanced Skills Strategy, which is based on a forward-thinking approach and sets out the national framework aimed at consolidating the concept of life-long learning for citizens and residents.

 

Read the Digital Transformation in the UAE Report 2020 (PDF- 6.97MB) for more details about the UAE’s achievements in digital transformation and its impact on improvement of public wellbeing, customer happiness and user experience.