Page 61 - SAMENA Trends - February-March 2021

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

REGIONAL NEWS

World Digital Report 2020 Highlights Digital Lifestyle in UAE

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory
Authority has appreciated the data insights by the World Digital
Report 2021, published in partnership between "We Are Social"
and "Hoot suite". The report sheds light on the digital lifestyle
in the UAE, based on group data that monitored individuals and
companies' behavior during the year 2020, which witnessed the
coronavirus pandemic. The report revealed the total value of
digital payment transactions in the UAE during 2020 reached
US$18.50 billion and indicated that the average time an individual
spends on the Internet in the UAE is 7 hours and 24 minutes a
day. Furthermore, the report states that an individual spends 40
hours per week browsing the Internet via a Smartphone, while 86
percent of the population plays electronic games via the Internet
using available devices. The report has also indicated that the UAE
residents spent 320 million hours on Smartphone applications
during 2020 and the number of smart homes in the country has
reached 190,000. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General
of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory
Authority, Head of the Digital Government of the UAE government,
commented, "The emergency faced by the world last year, has
made 2020, a digital year of excellence, as websites, social media
pages, portals and smart sites thrived. They were the only means
for the world's population to pursue their lives, work and education.
The communications and information technology sector's
overall infrastructure has been a decisive factor in enabling
many sectors of society to maintain the continuity of various
aspects of everyday life like work, education, and shopping. "Most
importantly, the period has proved that digital transformation is
an urgent necessity and not a technical luxury. Following our wise
leadership's directives, we in the UAE have been pioneers in this
process, as most government agencies developed their smart
platforms and services. We were the first to adopt and develop
digital solutions that enabled us to overcome the difficult situation
and managed to achieve many successes," he added. According
to the report, 99 percent of the Emirati community members
are active on social media, and 97.6 percent of the population
owned Smartphones. While 9.3 percent of the population owned
smart devices in their homes, 5.2 percent use augmented virtual
reality technologies. The report also stated that the high internet
speeds in the UAE contributed to enhancing the digital presence
of the various members of society. The average internet speed on are related to remote working, distance learning, e-commerce
smartphones reached 177.52 megabytes per second, an increase and providing government services remotely. In coordination with
of 104.6 percent from the year 2019, while the fixed internet speed service providers, the authority provided a set of applications to
reached 131 megabytes per second, a rise of 44.6 percent from support remote working from homes. The authority has worked
2019. The report also mentioned that Google ranked first as a with service providers to raise the fixed broadband speed to 100
search engine in terms of the number of visitors with a total of megabytes per second to secure high internet speeds that ensure
244 million visits, while YouTube ranked first at 87.4 percent as the smooth running of remote work operations. The Authority and
the most widely used social media platform. Telecommunications service providers enhanced network capacity and re-engineered
and Digital Government Regulatory Authority has launched several bandwidth to provide seamless remote work experiences.
initiatives to support the vision of the country's leadership. These

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