The UAE Cabinet has approved the formation of the Higher Committee for Government Digital Transformation as the country presses forward with plans to develop a digital economy and make use of future technology.
The committee will be chaired by Ohood Al Roumi, Minister of State for Governmental Development and Future, the Dubai Media Office said in a tweet on Monday.
Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Digital Economy, AI and Remote Work Systems, will serve as the committee's vice chairman.
The committee aims to supervise the UAE's digitisation plans and enhance the readiness, competitiveness and flexibility and alignment between projects and the digital systems of federal agencies.
The UAE is taking several steps to boost its digital economy and exploit the advantages provided by emerging technology.
Last week, Dubai announced the formation of the Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy to focus on developing the sector.
The committee's mandate is “to promote Dubai's supremacy in the digital economy globally”, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, said at the time.
The Dubai government also revealed its Dubai Metaverse Strategy last month, which aims to create 40,000 jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate's economy in the next five years.
The UAE's government digital transformation committee will aim to make more efficient use of digital assets while improving integration between government agencies, the media office said.
Its duties include preparing federal policies for digital transformation and reviewing and following up on the necessary strategies, programmes and initiatives to support the transition.
The committee will also be responsible for issuing guidance on strategic projects related to the digitisation of government services, business and operations.
Members include officials from the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, the government's cyber security chief, the UAE chief of government services and a Ministry of Finance representative.
Earlier this year, the TDRA released the findings of its UAE Digital Transformation Enablers report, highlighting key elements of the country's digital transformation process through initiatives such as the Federal Network, UAE Pass, the Government Service Bus and the national customer relationship management system.
The UAE was ranked among the world's best countries in terms of the pace of the government's digital transformation, becoming the only Arab nation in this group, according to the World Bank's GovTech Maturity Index 2021 that measured the reliance on modern technology in government work in 198 states.
The Emirates also leads the Arab world in digital progress and state of preparedness for the future, according to the Future Readiness Index released last year by the Portulans Institute and Google.
The nation was third among 27 emerging global economies and 23rd out of 123 countries.
Last month, the UAE's Ministry of State for Digital Economy, AI and Remote Work Systems also signed a preliminary agreement with blockchain data platform Chainalysis to provide virtual training programmes for the country's government entities.
The UAE Chainalysis Centre of Excellence will help government employees to upskill themselves with knowledge about blockchain — the decentralised platform that is considered to be a secure way to conduct transactions — and other technology shaping the future economy such as digital assets, the ministry said at the time.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
GAC GS8 Specs
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
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Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
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Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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MATCH INFO
Al Jazira 3 (O Abdulrahman 43', Kenno 82', Mabkhout 90 4')
Al Ain 1 (Laba 39')
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1. Fasting
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3. Hajj
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5. Zakat
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Scoreline:
Barcelona 2
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Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
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Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
