Page 106 - SAMENA Trends - August 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

United Arab Emirates

The UAE, represented by the UAE Telecommunication Regulatory talked about the UAE readiness to face pandemics, highlighting
Authority (TRA), has participated in the virtual workshops and the projects launched by the TRA and other service providers to
special tracks of the World Summit on the Information Society enhance vital infrastructures and present ICT services in remote
Forum. The TRA participated in two sessions, and presented the areas during exceptional conditions. Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, the
UAE success story in empowering a trustworthy digital society Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications sector at the
and its readiness to handle crises and guarantee sustainability. Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) commented:
The WSIS forum, held annually, is the largest global gathering “The current exceptional conditions all over the world proved the
of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The WSIS Forum is high importance of telecom infrastructure to keep companies,
co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD. The forum government and society connected. Our country achieved great
events aim at sharing of best practices and continues to provide success in relation to its readiness to face pandemics and
assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public/private guarantee sustainability.” It is noteworthy that the World Summit
partnerships to advance development goals. The WSIS Forum on the Information Society Forum seeks to implement sustainable
started on 22 June with a series of virtual workshops and special development strategies by evaluating and honoring individuals,
tracts in addition to a virtual exhibition. The UAE was represented governments, civil society, local, regional and international
by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, Ministry of agencies, research institutions and private sector companies
Energy and Infrastructure, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, General for outstanding. It coordinates global efforts in terms of ICT and
Women’s Union, Etisalat, Du and Yahsat. They highlighted the digital content. (August 30, 2020) www.tra.gov.ae
success stories of the UAE and how social, economic and cultural
life is facilitated with the use of ICT technologies to achieve At the invitation of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory
development. On this occasion, Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, the Authority, TRA, a meeting was held between TRA officials and
Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications sector at the Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of Digital Government at the United
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said: “The UAE Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDESA,
plays an important role in the success of the WSIS Forum since its to discuss the prospects of the UN e-Government Study and its
launch more than 10 years ago. We, in the TRA, get inspired from use for the digital performance development. On the UAE side, the
our wise leadership to be equipped with future foresight visions to meeting was chaired by Salem Al Housani, Acting Deputy Director-
enhance sustainable development and use advanced technologies General for the mGovernment Sector, with the participation of
for the benefit of the humanity. The current exceptional conditions Tariq Al Awadhi, Executive Director of Spectrum Affairs, and a
have proved the importance of cooperation and coordination number of officials from the work teams of digital services, digital
in different sectors to achieve sustainability. These conditions participation, and ICT infrastructure. During the meeting, the UAE
proved also that digital government is necessary for digital presented its observations on the United Nations e-Government
economy and that people must be digitally enabled to handle Study 2020, the global experiences mentioned therein, and lessons
such conditions. One of the sessions highlighted the stages of and information that countries can take into account in their digital
the UAE Pass launched by the TRA, in cooperation with Abu Dhabi transformation endeavors. The UAE side also presented its ideas
Digital Authority, Smart Dubai, the Federal Authority for Identity on the methods of the study and raised its inquiries on a range of
and Citizenship, and the Dubai Electronic Security Center. The issues such as the specifics, challenges and prospects related to
UAE Pass and digital wallet have been enabled to exchange data the UAE and the Arab region in the fields of digital transformation.
among government and private entities to enhance the digital The meeting discussed the global challenges represented by
transformation. The UAE Pass is one of the important pillars the fast pace of developments and changes, and the era of the
of an integrated and interconnected government that provides fourth industrial revolution including applications of Artificial
common services to the public in partnership with the private Intelligence such as robots, blockchain, and other emerging
sector. On this achievement, Eng. Mohamed Al Khamis, Director of technologies, and how to employ these technologies in the field of
the UAE Smart Government Program at the Telecommunications digital government. Al Housani welcomed the UN representative,
Regulatory Authority, commented: “We are confident that what we saying, "We value the role of UNDESA in disseminating the culture
have worked on in order to achieve digital transformation has paid of spreading knowledge and mutual benefit by highlighting global
off by activating the first national digital identity for all citizens, success stories within the mentioned study, and we thank them
residents and visitors. The UAE Pass connects users and service for fulfilling our request to clarify matters whenever we need to."
providers to facilitate more than 5,000 government services.” The Vincenzo congratulated the UAE on its outstanding performance
UAE Pass provide easy solution to get services via mobile phones in all indicators and responded to the inquiries of the work teams
without need for multiple access credentials. It enables users to in great detail. On the changes in the evaluation mechanisms
sign documents digital without visiting service centers. The digital of the e-Government Development Index, Vincenzo said, "First, I
wallet enables users to exchange and provide documents required would like to thank the UAE for its cooperation in translating and
to achieve their transactions. In the second session, the TRA publishing the e-Government Study in Arabic in a joint initiative

106 AUGUST 2020