Business | Technology
UAE to boost e-government plan
The UAE seeks to accelerate the implementation of the e-government mandate with 50 per cent of government services to be offered online in 2008 and 90 per cent by 2010, officials said on Sunday.
- By Ahmed A. Elewa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:11 January 28, 2008
Abu Dhabi: The UAE seeks to accelerate the implementation of the e-government mandate with 50 per cent of government services to be offered online in 2008 and 90 per cent by 2010, officials said on Sunday.
The Ministry of Economy has already surpassed the 50 per cent target, and it yesterday launched a new portal providing 80 services of a total of 130 services to be introduced by the end of this year.
"As of today, the UAE has one of the highest broadband user penetration rates in the Middle East at 31.5 per cent, and more than half the population has access to the internet.
"As a result, the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked the UAE's e-readiness as the highest in the region, and 30th globally," Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy, told the participants at Microsoft's Government Leaders Forum in the capital on Sunday.
The new portal has been developed by etisalat in collaboration with Microsoft, which is currently working on other similar portals for other ministries.
"We are negotiating with the other ministries including the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Justice," Ahmed Abdul Karim Julfar, etisalat's chief operating officer, said.
Collaboration
The portal aims to facilitate collaboration with businesses in the country.
"Many business services depend on manual processing and paperwork. Customers applying for commercial registration, certificates of origin, or trademarks, had to be physically present at the ministry's office," Mohammad Bin Abdul Aziz, the ministry's undersecretary for planning said.
"We needed to bring these services online to save time and processing costs, while streamlining the experience for customers. This would increase the competitiveness of the UAE throughout the world,"
According to the United Nations' latest figures, the UAE currently ranks 32nd in terms of e-government readiness worldwide, a rate higher than countries like Russia, China, and Brazil.
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