Page 123 - SAMENA Trends - February-March 2021

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

and advanced from second place to first in the world in mobile of digital transformation. It is supported by qualified national
broadband Internet subscriptions index. The UAE also ranked first human resources who are open to international best practices.
in the Arab world and at the regional level in the Information & The UAE’s teams have always been keen to develop their skills
communication technologies Index, the Internet Access Index, and enhance their online presence; they develop their strategies
and the Internet Use Index. In terms of the overall percentage to keep pace with the developments and prepare for the future. It
of Internet users, the UAE made progress by reaching the fifth is for these reasons, that the UAE achieves distinguished results
position globally and a qualitative leap from the 68th place in the every year," said Richard Kerby, President, Richard Kerby LLC and
world to the 29th position in the fixed broadband subscriptions an expert advisor of international repute on digital transformation
index. It is worth noting that the UAE ranked first in the Arab of governments. (March 3, 2021) menafn.com
Region in the index of local Internet domain names, which uses
the symbol (ae). These indicators measure the percentage of H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director General of the
domain registration in other countries and indicate movement Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), praised the
volume and technological interaction. When it came to the launch advanced results achieved by TRA in the Global Star Rating
and use of 5G - the fifth-generation network, the UAE ranked first System for Services, which were approved by His Highness
in the Arab Region and fourth globally, according to the Global Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and
Connectivity Index issued by Carphone Warehouse, specialized Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. TRA website and smart
in technology benchmarking. An added achievement, the UAE Application were rated four stars in the results that included, for
came first in the Middle East for transformation to Internet the first time, the rating of digital channels and government call
Protocol version 6 (IPv6), according to statistics issued by Ripe centers, and covered about 100 service provision channels in 28
NCC, Akamai Technologies, and Google. The transition to IPv6 entities. This rating adds up to TRA’s long list of achievements, as
helped Internet service providers deliver better services and it was ranked first in the happiness and wellbeing in the workplace,
significantly impacted implementing 5G technologies for mobile issued by the National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing,
phone networks and digital transformation. The IPv6 was critical which aims to enhance happiness and wellbeing in the workplace
due to the shortage of Internet protocols and the inability of IPv4 in government entities. Additionally, these results reflect the great
to meet the growing demand in light of the internet's rapid growth. interest of TRA to develop its digital channels in order to provide
In the ODIN report issued by the Open Data Watch, which included easy, fast and round-the-clock services to the public. A team of
187 countries, the UAE ranked 16th globally, leaping 51 places at competent Emiratis works to develop TRA digital portals, and to
once, compared to 2018. In this indicator, the UAE outperformed support other government entities in enabling and measuring
countries such as the USA, Korea, Switzerland, France, Spain, digital transformation in the field of website development. H.E.
Japan, and the United Kingdom. According to the report, two Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, commented
main factors - openness and comprehensive coverage, classified on this achievement, saying: “The advanced results achieved by
the countries for open data sites. His Excellency Hamad Obaid TRA website, smart app and call center reflect TRA’s commitment
Al Mansoori, Director General of the Telecommunications and to the wise leadership’s directives and are consistent with the
Digital Government Regulatory Authority, said, "The year 2020 UAE directions towards achieving a full digital transformation.
was exceptional at all levels and full of unexpected development These results also confirm TRA’s keenness to provide the best
and never-before challenges. There was an increased need and fastest services around the clock. TRA’s teams have made
for internet services from lockdown in most countries and the great efforts in the field of developing its smart and electronic
almost total suspension of transport movement to reliance on channels, based on specialized surveys and customers’ opinions
the internet to accomplish business, education, communication, about the services provided by TRA. TRA has given every opinion
and government services. This increased demand added pressure or idea that was received from the public the necessary attention,
on networks, which required the most modern infrastructure and as they were studied carefully to achieve customer happiness
technologies to deal with this sudden development. The UAE and support the UAE goals and future visions.” H.E. Al Mansoori
affirmed its leadership in all sectors, especially in communication added: “We are proud of what we have achieved, which motivates
technology as the The Telecommunications and Digital us to keep up the hard work to achieve more accomplishments
Government Regulatory Authority confirmed its ability to achieve and develop our services and projects. I thank all the working
distinguished results. Indeed, it is a proud moment of strategic teams at TRA for their dedication to work and double efforts to
thinking and continuous development under the guidance of our meet the needs of customers, especially in the past months, which
wise leadership." He added: "We were able to meet the nation's were characterized by an unprecedented increase in demand for
growing needs during the last year and exceed expectations with electronic and smart services.” The development process of the
the readiness of the Telecommunications and Digital Government website and the smart application content goes through several
Regulatory Authority in its pursuit of excellence, which helped to stages, the most important of which is engaging the customers
achieve impressive results at local, regional and global levels. themselves in improving the content and other components
We consider these achievements a catalyst for achieving more through digital consultations and surveys. TRA is keen to involve
positive results and will help us continue efforts to reaffirm the the public in this matter based on the priority of customer
United Arab Emirates position in the world”. "The United Arab happiness, in line with the directives of the wise leadership that
Emirates is one of the leading countries in the region in the field the customer is the goal and the purpose. (February 3, 2021) tra.gov.ae

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