Abu Dhabi Participates In The Inaugural General Assembly Of The Organization Of e-Government In South Korea

Rashed Lahej Al Mansouri, Director General of Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre, said in a statement that the Centre is representing the government of Abu Dhabi at the opening meeting of the Inaugural General Assembly of the E-government Organization of the United Nations 2010), which is taking place in South Korea, hosted by the government of Seoul city, during the period 6th to 8th of current September.

The meeting was attended by more than a hundred participants representing e-government managers, information technology and communications experts in both public and private sectors, academics, and mayors of cities and local governments in all parts of the world.

Al-Mansouri said that the "agenda of the meeting includes a discussion by the Executive Committee members about the terms of the Statute of the organization, and signing its final from during the Inaugural General Assembly meeting, as well as selecting candidate cities for the offices of President and Vice President. In addition to holding exhibitions and several workshops, point gout that Abu Dhabi is nominated to obtain a senior post in the Inaugural General Assembly. Also, ADSIC shall give a speech about the achievements made by Abu Dhabi e-Government program. Worth mentioning is that Barcelona Spain shall be the candidate city to hold the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization in 2011.

He said that "tireless efforts made by Abu Dhabi Government to achieve the goal of the wise leadership for the Emirate to be among the best five governments in the world, made it in the focus of world attention, especially after acquiring advanced ranks in all most commonly performance indicators analyzed in 2008, namely: "Network Readiness Index" (NRI) World Economic Forum, and "E-government Readiness Index of the United Nations", and the index to the development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). These indicators classified Abu Dhabi in the top 35 countries in the world, where it moved from rank 27 in 2007 to rank 17, which is an honorable progress to be achieve in a single year compared to developed countries, particularly in the range of business sectors and government departments sectors; moving from the 23rd rank to the 21st, and then to the 3rd respectively.

Regarding the Network Readiness Index, the Emirate moved from the 26th rank in 2007 to the 3rd rank in 2008, and from the 27th rank to the 17th rank in NRI. On the other hand, the Emirate has regionally superseded Qatar with 13 ranks, Bahrain with 21 ranks, and Saudi Arabia with 24 ranks, compared to the classified states around the world. NRI is measured with the state’s extent of interest in using technology in daily activities. In this regard, the Emirate acquired this good classification through three supportive pillars of support; the individual readiness and practical (business) readiness process, in addition to governmental readiness, in addition to the improvements that can be attributed to factors such as the "importance of information technology and communications in the vision of the future government. Further, Abu Dhabi removed the barriers to the development of the (ICT), which use the international internet wave for each internet user (bit/s) (rank 74), and the number of subscribers to Broadband Internet fixed services per 100 residents (rank 45). ".

He added that "these indicators enhance the effectiveness of the efforts undertaken by the Centre for the Development of Information Technology (CITAD), enabling the Government of Abu Dhabi to further effectively focus in this field, directing its national priorities based on the current needs, highlighting the achievements witnessed by the e-government over the past three years, and the keenness to ensure the harness of information and communications technology to serve the public sector, in full consistent with the strategy of the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information. In 2009-2010, we have accomplished several projects and achieved leadership in providing government and community services, whether through (Jobs Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Government Portal - Contact Centre) and others, in collaboration with the public and private sectors. We continue working towards more accomplishments to achieve services government".

Worth mentioning is that Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the "Knowledge for Development Institute - Korea" in the twenty-seventh of December last year, during the successful visit of the Korean President Lee Myung-bak to the United Arab Emirates, within the executive procedures of the said MoU to deepen the cooperation between the UAE and South Korea in general, and exchange the knowledge and expertise to develop the sector of information and communication technology in Abu Dhabi in particular. The Korean delegation expressed its appreciation for the significant positive steps made by Abu Dhabi e-Government program to establish a modern and effective e-government platform comparable its counterparts in the world.
 

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