Digital foundations growing stronger

IT and e-government services have become a pivotal pillar for Abu Dhabi as the Government aims to increase its overall competitiveness in the field and provide a more robust IT offering to citizens.

Information technology and e-government services have become an economic pillar for Abu Dhabi as the Government aims to increase its overall competitiveness in the field and provide a more robust IT offering to citizens.

The Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre (Adsic), the government body in charge of Abu Dhabi's IT agenda, has been holding events to help to train and develop government employees. Most recently, it held a forum for senior government employees to discuss the emirate's e-government strategy.

The development is part of Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030 to create a sustainable and diversified economy away from oil. Information and communications technology "represents a cornerstone for developing Abu Dhabi as a knowledge-based society and promotes its economic diversification", said Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, the director general of Adsic. "Since its establishment, Adsic has been adopting the latest IT tools and best practices and standards in order to support the e-government's strategy IT-empowered growth."

Some of Adsic's initiatives include the Abu Dhabi e-government Gateway, a government contact centre, Jobs Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure. Gateway, which was launched in February 2007, now has 8,000 pages of information related to 99 government entities with 1,101 services, becoming the main destination for citizens, residents and visitors for information on Abu Dhabi.

"We still have a long way to go before Abu Dhabi is transformed to a true digital society. But we are proud to have successfully developed a strong foundation to achieve this dream," said Mr Al Mansoori.

The government body is focusing on developing a governance framework and a set of ICT policies and standards at government level, to establish joint government systems and raise the level of participation among stakeholders.

Adsic also recently partnered with Microsoft to ensure that all government entities are brought online and their services are made accessible to residents.

The UAE managed to jump five places to 25 in the World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report rankings this year, ahead of such places as Spain, Oman and Hungary. The report ranks each nation according to how they leverage IT and communications to drive economic growth and social development.