The UAE has come a long way in the digital transformation space in the last 10 years and has shown that it is building a future based on technological innovation. The digital transformation began in 2010 when "Vision 2021" was launched and served as the foundation for all the strategies that followed. Vision 2021 talks about the knowledge economy and after 2013, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and leader of Dubai, launched the mobile government initiatives. “It was an important decision and a lot has been accomplished. After that, we looked at various strategies: UAE AI, 3D printing, IoT, the fourth industrial revolution, UAE Innovation, and National Skills Strategy. All strategies have clear goals and milestones," Ranjit Rajan, a co-author at Digital Nation, told TechRadar. Rajan, who is also associate vice president for research at IDC, with Dr. Saeed AlDhaheri, president of SmartWorld, based their book on in-depth interactions with top 20 executives and senior executives from private and public entities .. in the UAE The book traces the UAE's digital transformation journey, discusses its achievements and outlines the challenges ahead, interspersed with anecdotes and insights. stories drawn from the experiences of leaders and executives.Rajan said that all digital transformation strategies in the UAE are led by the government and public sectors, unlike other parts of the world where the private sector is ahead.In the UAE , said the public sector sets vision and spurs innovation, which helps bring private sectors together.According to the Government Electronic and Mobile Services Maturity Index (GEMS), published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission United Arab Emirates for Western Asia, the United Arab Emirates ranked first in the Arab region and The report found that 80% of the population of the UAE has access to government services provided through online portals and smart applications. Apart from the government, Rajan said the banking sector had led digital strategies, followed by retail, hospitality, telecom, oil and gas.
Importants achievements
“The United Arab Emirates is ahead of the other Gulf countries and there is no doubt about it. The UAE's ambition is not just to be a leader in the Gulf or the Middle East, but to go further and stand out on the world stage by leveraging advanced and emerging technologies," Rajan said. According to the UAE Network United Nations for Sustainable Development Solutions, the United Arab Emirates ranked first in the Arab region in the World Happiness Report for the fifth consecutive year The United Arab Emirates ranks first in the world for mobile broadband subscriptions and coverage network, and second in mobile mobile subscriptions, according to the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019. The United Arab Emirates has been ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa and fifth Global Connected Index (GCI) published by DHL 2018. According to the IMD Global Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2019, the United Arab Emirates ranks first in the Arab region and 12th in the world among highly competitive countries, but moved up one rank on the "knowledge" factor to be first in the Arab region and 35th worldwide. "While the UAE has been very good at adopting and using technology, on other metrics like innovation and talent, the country ranks lower than many countries in the world," Rajan said. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2019, the United Arab Emirates ranked second to South Korea for the adoption of information and communications technology, but ranked 33rd for innovation capacity.
Innovation Export Center
However, Rajan said that the global technological disruption was due to AI, IoT and blockchain, giving the UAE an opportunity to become known worldwide. and become a center not only for the use of these technologies but also for their development. The UAE, which is a small and relatively small country with a population of just over 9 million, is rapidly adopting and using these technologies, but the focus now is to go beyond innovating and creating products and capabilities. For many innovations, the UAE only offers a small market. The way the UAE can increase the returns to innovation is to seek opportunities, grow and develop, and become an export hub for exports. innovation," he said. The ultimate vision is to create a "Made in UAE" brand through exporting technological innovation and talent, he added. He said there are some areas where the UAE has made significant progress, such as the capacity of the sector services public, in areas like autonomous transport, health care, etc. and new regulatory developments in AI, health and IoT. But there is still a lot to be done. He said that the UAE must be able to export intellectual property and viable products based on technologies disruptive and will take a few years to scale.Leaders realize this and because of that, he said startup incubators and accelerator programs are strongly supported and promoted.
Attract talent
"The idea is to attract local and global talent and stimulate innovation. The 1m Arab Coders program is one example – here, the idea is to attract coding talent from across the region to the UAE. We need a whole new set of talents and skills in emerging technologies to add to the pool. It will take several years to develop," Rajan said. When asked about the funding challenges here compared to Silicon Valley, he said it was difficult to compare the UAE to the US or China and that it was unfair to compare when looking at the size of the economy, resources, talent pool, etc. “The UAE is trying to carve out a niche for itself and cannot compete with the resources of the US or China or in certain European economies. What the UAE wants to be is a catalyst and in the coming years, the UAE will continue to develop as a center of technological innovation to create value and compete with other nations." , He said. The world's largest investors in R&D in AI and other emerging technologies are US-based multinationals (Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, IBM, etc.). What the United Arab Emirates can do, he said, is play an important role in the global innovation ecosystem and create intellectual property and commercially viable products. and to respond to a larger market, which will initially consist of the emerging markets of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. “South Korea has built great brands by focusing on innovation and creating intellectual property. Singapore has become a hub for its neighborhood. These are some of the countries that the UAE can compare to in the short term,” he said. However, he said that there are challenges for the United Arab Emirates to overcome and that it will take some time.
Large university centers are needed to conduct research
There are a couple of things that need to come together to achieve a successful innovation ecosystem, he said, adding that the first is to have a very strong tech industry (all the multinationals are here, local companies are trying to expand, build capabilities and telecom operators ). are getting into ICT) and the next is skills shortages and regulation of intellectual property protection. “Intellectual property protection is the key to success and necessary to build trust. The number of patents and research papers produced in Arab countries is very low compared to more advanced regions and this needs to change,” he said. The other challenge, he said, is the capacity of the education system, from kindergarten to grade 12, to be able to produce quality talent and universities must also develop to participate in university research. "We need large university centers that can stimulate researchers university students, support technological progress and create intellectual capital and talent," he said. In addition, he said that the United Arab Emirates had done what was necessary to attract global talent by attracting global universities to open centers and bringing their educational experience here and attracting students from the United Arab Emirates. ; outdoors for higher education courses. “Education systems take years to develop or transform. To attract global talent, long-term visas are a step in the right direction and will certainly help attract scientists and researchers," he said. According to US News & World Report, Khalifa University of Science and Technology ranked first in the United Arab Emirates in the 2020 ranking of the best universities in the world, marking greater international recognition for the institution Research intensive.
A great competitive advantage.
In terms of technology adoption and usage, Rajan said the UAE will continue to be one of the world leaders. This will create a huge competitive advantage. The UAE will continue to become more agile and efficient, providing better services to citizens, residents, visitors, and businesses by leveraging the latest technology. “Technology adoption is now part of the culture. In many parts of the world, governments are generally slow to adopt automation due to the disruptive impact on work culture and employment. But the UAE introduced disruptive automation early to reduce costs , speed delivery and agility, and improve efficiency," he said. However, the adoption and use of technology is not enough. To generate greater value, the UAE is investing heavily in innovation and talent development. The results of unbridled innovation and initiatives, he said, will create a host of technology startups, more commercially viable business models and products, and increased capital inflows. years of risk "We will be able to close the gap with more accomplished global groups of technological innovation in the coming years because the intent is there." Talent and skill development is a work in progress and the United Arab Emirates understands these challenges. The government is not running away, but it is facing it," he said.