Dubai: The UAE is one of the top three countries in the world that are most prepared for change, according to a new index.
Global audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG has just released the latest edition of its Change Readiness Index (CRI) which ranks 136 countries around the world in terms of their ability to manage or adapt change and nurture opportunity.
The UAE climbed two spots from the 2015 edition and topped the Middle East and Africa region. Globally, it claimed the third spot, just behind Switzerland and Sweden.
The country topped the charts for enterprise capability, while it claimed the second-highest rating for government capability and ranked in the 17th place for peace and civil society capability.
The CRI provides deep insights into where countries can focus and invest to be prepared for the increasing pace of change worldwide—breaking down each country’s capacity across three key “pillars” of capability:
1. enterprise capability: the ability of private and state-owned organisations to manage change and grow within a dynamic economic environment
2. government capability: the ability of governmental and public regulatory institutions to manage and influence change
3. people and civil society capability: the ability of individual citizens and the wider society to cope with change and respond to opportunities
The 2017 index indicated that countries dependent on natural resources and export incomes faced set-backs. However, the UAE and Norway broke the pattern and displayed strong performance in the CRI.
The study also provides sub-indicator rankings for each country. For the UAE, government strategic planning and horizon scanning, demographics, and security were identified as strengths while enterprise sustainability, technology use and health were the opportunities.
