The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ranked first in the Arab region and 12th globally among highly competitive countries in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2019, issued by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, one of the highly specialized institutions in this field worldwide.
According to the report, the UAE has advanced five positions from the previous year’s ranking, to be ranked 12th globally and first in the Arab Region.
In this year’s report, the UAE has also progressed to achieve the first rank in the Arab Region in all three main factors of the report, including ‘technology’ in which the country achieved the second rank globally. It is ninth globally in ‘future readiness’ factor. The UAE also advanced in the ‘knowledge’ factor to be the first in the Arab Region and 35th globally.
“The UAE progress in the Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2019 is a new global testimony added to the UAE record of achievements and teamwork. I would like to thank our partners in government and private sectors for their efforts and collaboration to enhance the competitiveness of the country and its progress in all global indicators and reports,” said Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General.
In the ‘knowledge’ factor, which tracks the performance of the country by measuring three sub-factors – ‘talent’, ‘training’ and ‘education’ and ‘scientific concentration’ – the UAE is ranked first globally in ‘international expertise’ and second globally in ‘management of cities’. It is ranked third globally in ‘net flow of international students’, fourth globally in ‘employee training’ and fifth globally in ‘foreign highly-skilled personnel’.
The ‘technology’ factor monitors technological progress through three main sub-factors – ‘regulatory framework’, ‘capital’ and ‘technological framework’. Moreover, the UAE has achieved advanced positions globally in these sub-factors, ranking first, second and fifth globally. In terms of indicators, the UAE is ranked first globally in ‘immigration laws’ and ‘wireless broadband’, ranked third globally in ‘development and application of technology’, ‘banking and financial services’, and ‘venture capital’, and fourth globally in ‘funding for technological solution’.
The third and last factor, ‘future readiness’, monitors countries’ readiness for change in different sectors, and the role of technology in handling changes, by measuring three sub-factors, including ‘adaptive attitudes’, ‘business agility’ and ‘IT integration’. In this factor, the UAE is ranked first globally in four sub-indicators: ‘Agility of companies’, ‘Use of big data and analytics’, ‘Public-private partnership’ and ‘opportunities and threats’. The UAE is ranked second globally in ‘cyber security’ and third globally in ‘knowledge transfer’ and ‘attitudes toward globalization’.
Mr Al Mansoori highlighted the key role of federal and local government entities and the private sector in achieving the vision, aspirations and goals set by the wise leadership for the continuous development and improvement of technological infrastructure, as well as supporting training and development initiatives for national capacities in the field of information technology, and encouraging research and development in ICT and advanced science.
The TRA Director General concluded by saying that technology today is the cornerstone of the economic and social development strategies and plans adopted by the world’s advanced economies.
“Innovation is the key for success and cooperation among individuals, federal and local government entities in the development of solutions, and future foresight plays an accelerating role of this innovation and thus improve the country and society,” he said.
The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking has been added to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook in 2017. The ranking is based on 50 indicators grouped into nine sub-factors that form three main factors: knowledge, technology and future readiness.
