Rapid PC penetration will boost e-Governance in the Arab world

This augurs well for the various e-governance projects launched by the different governments in the Arab countries, according to Salem Al Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment.

Al Shair was delivering the keynote address at the recently held "Regional Workshop on e-Government" organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in association with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Yemen, at Technology City, Sana'a. The workshop was under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Yemen, H.E. Abdelkader BaJamal, who is also the Chairman of the ICT Executive Committee.

"Market research findings indicate that the growth in PC penetration and the spread of the Internet are going hand in hand in Arab countries. Though PC penetration in some Arab countries is low compared to the more developed countries, the past few years have shown high levels of energy and dynamism among government circles to implement e-government initiatives," said Al Shair. "The next five years are going to be critical in the implementation of e-government programmes across the region."

Recounting the Dubai eGovernment experience, Al Shair said: "Backed by a time-bound program to migrate more than 70 per cent public services to electronic channels and a 30 per cent PC penetration in the UAE, Dubai eGovernment has succeeded in keeping to its target. In just three years, we have successfully managed to create a proper environment and infrastructure to deliver customer-focused eServices over innovative channels, including mobile devices. Dubai's vision to emerge as the front-runner in e-governance and Knowledge Economy was translated into reality through extensive planning, deployment of best of breed technologies and involvement of all key government departments. The result is that the Dubai eGovernment portal currently delivers over 600 eServices."

Al Shair emphasized that, among the requirements for a successful implementation of e-government initiatives were, clear vision and direction, wise leadership and government commitment, accelerated momentum with set goals, quick decision making and establishment of a flexible, robust and scalable infrastructure. This has to be supported by the adoption of international benchmarking standards and community-focused outreach programs.

Referring to Yemen's measures to implement e-governance, Al Shair said: "We would like to commend the Yemeni authorities for adopting a dynamic strategy to energize the key ministries in embracing automation and launching programmes to enhance IT literacy among the people. By hosting this workshop, Yemen has demonstrated its seriousness in pursuing e-governance. The interaction with officials from different countries, including the UAE, will enable Yemen to benefit from the experiences of countries that have had an advance start in e-governance."

The workshop featured speakers and experts from different countries that are at various stages of e-governance implementation, including Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Tunisia, India, Yemen and UAE. H.E. Abdulmalik Al-Mualimi, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, highlighted the Yemeni experience in e-governance on the first day of the workshop. The workshop also featured speakers from UNDP, International Computer Driving License and IT experts from leading global companies.