UAE’s digital transformation has put country on the map - and saved billions, minister says

AI to play key role in further enhancement of government services, World Economic Forum hears

Maryam Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting. Photo: World Economic Forum

The UAE government's forward-thinking digital strategy has helped to save billion of dollars, boost efficiency and make the country a prime destination for top talent in advanced technology and artificial intelligence, an Emirati minister said.

Maryam Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet, told delegates at the World Economic Forum that the country had become one of the most advanced in the world when it came to digitalisation, thanks to being years ahead of schedule in harnessing online services.

Its proactive approach has set the country up for further innovation. The forum heard the adoption of AI was set to lead to more changes in how government services were delivered.

Speaking during a panel discussion titled Governments, Rewired, Ms Al Hammadi said the modernisation of governments and how they delivered services was “a necessity for government to be relevant, competitive and effective”.

“That’s why in the UAE we embarked on the modernisation journey very early, two decades ago, where we started with the digital transformation, mobile and smart services,” she said. “The result is that now, in the UAE, 99 per cent of our government service is digitally transformed. We have 90 per cent satisfaction among our citizens, we have 100 per cent of our citizens living in the UAE having a digitally unified number where they can access most of the government services and some of the private services.

“We have also a federal saving of around $4 billion. Our IT infrastructure is ranked first globally and we are also ranked first globally on internet speed. We are third globally in attracting AI talent. We are fourth globally in the number of foundational AI models released.”

But she said government modernisation was not simply about digital transformation and it also involved widespread legislative reform to develop regulations that attracted “talented people, entrepreneurs”.

“In four years, 80 per cent of the federal laws have been changed,” she said, referring to updated legislation on e-commerce that has resulted in the country becoming home to more than 24,000 companies in that sector.

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Revolution ahead

In total, the UAE has more than 1.2 million registered companies, with many others set to be registered, Ms Al Hammadi said. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair told the session that the adoption of AI would enhance the way government services were delivered and could save money.

“This instrument, if properly used, will transform everything,” he said. “We’re going to be able to use AI, particularly generative AI, to improve efficiency. That means you can spend less, tax less and deliver greater efficiency.”

He said governments were currently “in the foothills of this revolution”, but that making use of the technology would require close collaboration between the public and private sectors.

“The public sector will always be slower than the private sector to catch up, but we should try to accelerate that process,” he said.

In another example of how the UAE is harnessing the power of technology, Mariam Almheiri, Head of the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court, spoke of the way the authorities are using AI to help smallholders to improve their crop yields.

It could offer useful advice for improving yields in the UAE’s climate, she added.

During a panel discussion titled Breaking Down Food, Ms Almheiri said “one of the most exciting” innovations being introduced by the government was the use of the generative AI technology ChatGPT for food and agriculture. The move was first revealed at the Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November.

“We eventually want to get this to the smallholder farmers so that they have their agricultural advisers in their pockets,” she said, referring to the way the technology could be delivered using smartphones.

A final version of the technology, known as Chag because it combines ChatGPT and agriculture, should be available in May, said Ms Almheiri, who served previously as minister for climate change and environment and minister of state for food and water security.

“Innovation is key to breaking the food system that we’re unfortunately in,” Ms Almheiri added.