Software as a Growth Engine

United Arab Emirates

Middle East April 25, 2018

Tech-savvy governments are few and far between as civil services – usually large molochs that move at a glacial pace – struggle to adapt to the digital environment and display a reluctance to think outside the proverbial box. Addicted to paper forms, rubber stamps, seals, and protocols, civil servants almost universally place great stock in convention as defined by set rules.

Though early adopters of e-government such as Singapore, South Korea, Estonia, and The Netherlands have broken new ground to much acclaim, those countries are now facing ‘competition’ from the newest kid on the the digital highway: United Arab Emirates (UAE) is quickly climbing the to the top of the United Nation’s annual ranking of e-government. UAE rulers are determined to outshine and outperform all others – and, indeed, set an example – as the country adopts disruptive technologies to serve its needs as one of the region’s – and perhaps even the world’s – most dynamic societies.

The UAE launched its first e-government service as far back as 2001 when it introduced an electronic payment card to facilitate the collection of fees. Since then, digital services have expanded at an accelerated clip to include all the administration’s departments and associated entities, dependencies, and offices.

M-Government

The country is now charting new territory with m-government, making its digital infrastructure compatible with – and accessible to – mobile devices regardless the platform. Considering that its citizens are constantly on the move and may no longer use or even possess big-box desktop computers, the UAE has adopted a mobile-first policy for its future online initiatives. Existing facilities are progressively being re-engineered to become fully mobile compatible.

Deputy-Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, in charge of foreign trade amongst others, has been a long-time advocate of e-government. Mr Al Saleh helped set up the ministry’s new electronic platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which serves as a gateway for businesses to reach out an tap into new markets, source supplies, submit bids on tenders, and find potential partners, amongst others.

The platform is reserved for businesses that signed up with the UAE’s National Programme for SMEs, a comprehensive framework that aims to facilitate the participation of smaller companies in numerous state-backed projects and undertakings. Emirati entrepreneurs may also partake in capacity-building programmes and access investment opportunities. Explaining that the UAE has become an important global hub of innovation, Mr Al Saleh emphasised that in order to keep its leading edge, the emirates must maintain and further perfect the country’s legislative and administrative environments.

The deputy-minister also stressed the need to keep SMEs and others fully informed about the many government initiatives and programmes that seek to encourage entrepreneurship and provide growth opportunities to existing businesses. Innovation, however, remains the focus of the UAE government which unveiled a National Innovation Strategy centred on a close collaboration between private business, research centres, and federal and local authorities. In fact, innovation has been situated at the very core of UAE government policy as the emirates transition to a knowledge-based economy.

E-government, in turn, is considered a key part of that move with the state setting the tone, showcasing the possibilities and – perhaps crucially – encouraging cooperation between leading actors such as chambers of commerce and industry, departments of Economic Development, and all industry verticals.

The Dubai Department of Finance (DoF) has now taken the lead in digitising the collection and allocation of the emirate’s public resources with a unique system that makes extensive use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other advanced technologies.

Bold Attempt

The comprehensive DoF platform currently being deployed represents one of the boldest attempts ever to take the guesswork out of fiscal planning via performance-based budgeting. The Smart Fiscal Planning (SFP) Programme aims to streamline and speed up procedures, save hundreds of millions of dirhams, enhance transparency, and ensure the sustainability of government undertakings by including long-term budgetary considerations to allow for depreciation of assets and a host of other factors – both predictable and unpredictable.

A vast digitised platform built on Oracle’s Hyperion public sector budgeting application, SFP also establishes a solid link between fiscal and strategic planning and thus provides a pathway to the modern decentralised state envisioned by the UAE’s government. The move to performance-based budgeting, now in its fourth and final phase and essentially a vast fiscal re-engineering project, is expected to be completed this year and fits within the broader push to transform Dubai into the world’s first smart city.

For the wider UAE, e-government also is a key part of a shift towards a more diversified economy that is to form the basis of ‘the world’s best society’. The emirates’ Vision 2021 calls for the creation of a competitive, cohesive, and resilient economy that is sustained by innovation and knowledge.

Though ambitious and bold, the goals spelled out in Vision 2021 are already now nearing completion. Under-Secretary Al Saleh points out that a modern economic infrastructure, which includes e-government, is also key to maintaining and expanding the UAE’s role as a global hub for trade and investment.

Mr Al Saleh said that the emirates’ role as the world’s premier gateway for trade, located on what has now effectively become a crossroads between continents, has only been made possible by the creation of an agile regulatory environment that removes obstacles without sacrificing oversight or compliance. Thus e-government not only lightens the bureaucratic touch for Emirati citizens but also enables the country to secure its future.