Unified Gulf Efforts
Editorial
The
3rd GCC eGovernment Award, Conference and
Exhibition was inaugurated in Dubai last month by
HH Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chair-
man of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. The Conference
concluded with 25 recommendations which include building on
recommendations from the two previous conferences, continu-
ing implementing the existing terms and entrusting follow up on
implementing the conference recommendations to a unit that op-
erates within the GCC Secretariat General.
The conference recommended completing and development of
the unified GCC network to serve the GCC aspirations of elec
-
tronic integration, developing unified guidelines for web quality
and maturity of eServices and smart services to be followed by
government entities in the GCC countries and developing the
necessary programmes and plans for the inclusion of people with
special needs by enabling them to use technology and eServices.
Government entities in the UAE received 8 awards in the 3rd
GCC eGovernment Award, 5 of which went to Dubai government
departments.
In the fourth issue of mGovernment magazines, we discuss
eGovernment in the GCC and the obstacles that hinder reaching
a unified eGovernment platform including variations in eTransfor
-
mation levels in the GCC countries and how to overcome these
obstacles.
In this issue, we highlight the 2013/2014 Global Competitive-
ness Report issued by the World Economic Forum. The UAE has
achieved remarkable progress in the indices of Government On-
line Services, Mobile Network Coverage, Government procure-
ment of advanced technology, Importance of ICTs to Government
Vision and ICT Use & Gov’t Efficiency.
This issue carries a number of reports and local and international
news in the fields of ICT, smart apps and mGovernment. You can
also read about what Tweeps interact about the most in the micro-
blogging site including Khalifa-Sat, the first Emirati manufactured
satellite. A hash tag (#Khalifa_Sat) was created and a lot of peo-
ple praised the giant step as a new addition to the UAE’s record
of achievements.
