The UAE, represented by the UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA), has participated in the virtual workshops and special tracks of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum. The TRA participated in two sessions, and presented the UAE success story in empowering a trustworthy digital society and its readiness to handle crises and guarantee sustainability. The WSIS forum, held annually, is the largest global gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The WSIS Forum is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD. The forum events aim at sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals.
The WSIS Forum started on 22 June with a series of virtual workshops and special tracts in addition to a virtual exhibition. The UAE was represented by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, General Women’s Union, Etisalat, Du and Yahsat. They highlighted the success stories of the UAE and how social, economic and cultural life is facilitated with the use of ICT technologies to achieve development.
On this occasion, Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, the Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications sector at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said: “The UAE plays an important role in the success of the WSIS Forum since its launch more than 10 years ago. We, in the TRA, get inspired from our wise leadership to be equipped with future foresight visions to enhance sustainable development and use advanced technologies for the benefit of the humanity. The current exceptional conditions have proved the importance of cooperation and coordination in different sectors to achieve sustainability. These conditions proved also that digital government is necessary for digital economy and that people must be digitally enabled to handle such conditions.
One of the sessions highlighted the stages of the UAE Pass launched by the TRA, in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, Smart Dubai, the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, and the Dubai Electronic Security Center. The UAE Pass and digital wallet have been enabled to exchange data among government and private entities to enhance the digital transformation. The UAE Pass is one of the important pillars of an integrated and interconnected government that provides common services to the public in partnership with the private sector. On this achievement, Eng. Mohamed Al Khamis, Director of the UAE Smart Government Program at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, commented: “We are confident that what we have worked on in order to achieve digital transformation has paid off by activating the first national digital identity for all citizens, residents and visitors. The UAE Pass connects users and service providers to facilitate more than 5,000 government services.”
The UAE Pass provide easy solution to get services via mobile phones without need for multiple access credentials. It enables users to sign documents digital without visiting service centers. The digital wallet enables users to exchange and provide documents required to achieve their transactions.
In the second session, the TRA talked about the UAE readiness to face pandemics, highlighting the projects launched by the TRA and other service providers to enhance vital infrastructures and present ICT services in remote areas during exceptional conditions. Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, the Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications sector at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) commented: “The current exceptional conditions all over the world proved the high importance of telecom infrastructure to keep companies, government and society connected. Our country achieved great success in relation to its readiness to face pandemics and guarantee sustainability.”
It is noteworthy that the World Summit on the Information Society Forum seeks to implement sustainable development strategies by evaluating and honoring individuals, governments, civil society, local, regional and international agencies, research institutions and private sector companies for outstanding. It coordinates global efforts in terms of ICT and digital content.