Driven by a comprehensive digital transformation roadmap and COVID-19 response strategy, the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has attained its latest digitisation accomplishment, ranking third globally for the provision of digital services and subsequent adoption according to Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) new study released today, titled Digital Government in the GCC: Accelerating Citizen Trust. This research is also inspired by BCG and Salesforce’s research to understand what customers expect from governments, titled The Trust Imperative.
As part of their respective efforts to remain at the forefront of emerging technologies’ adoption, governments across the GCC have prioritised increased digital services quality and expansion in recent times. Action in this direction aligns with their overarching objective of elevating efficiency, leveraging new digital delivery frameworks, utilizing citizen insights, and providing the population with newfound convenience and flexibility.
BCG’s study shows that the level of satisfaction of digital government services in UAE is high, with a net satisfaction score of 73 per cent, in comparison to the averages of developed countries (64 per cent) and developing countries (58 per cent). Additionally, the digital service offering in the UAE has been met with a positive response, with the country’s citizens placed highly in terms of frequency of access. In total, 61 per cent of UAE respondents revealed they use digital government once per week minimum, 14 percent above the global average.
The scope and variety of digital government services expanded rapidly following the outbreak, with COVID-19 awareness, testing, tracing, information coverage, quarantine compliance, volunteer coordination, and financial support offerings all emerging through online government portals. In terms of the UAE, the Emirati Dubai Health Authority app has catered to patient needs, covering a full suite of COVID-19-related services, including the vaccination rollout. Furthermore, Dubai has expanded and tailored UAE PASS, a digital national identity and account for citizens, residents, and visitors that provides access to 5,000 government and private services nationwide.
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“From both national and regional viewpoints, the demographics today is a key opportunity for the UAE and the wider GCC”, revealed Dr. Lars Littig, Managing Director and Partner, BCG. “At present, 54 per cent of GCC citizens are under the age of 25, and these digital natives not only continue to welcome the introduction of digital services, but also demand heightened quality, convenience, and accessibility. As such, these trends continue to drive the sustained surge in digital services uptake, laying the foundations for swift, useful improvements in the process. Urbanisation has also been influential. Around 85 per cent of GCC citizens reside in urban areas and regularly use digital government services”.
The Digital Government Citizen Survey (DGCS) study – spanning 36 countries, 26 digital government services, and almost 25,000 individual responses – also highlighted other findings. GCC citizens are satisfied with digital government services, appreciating benefits including understandable language, multiple platform accessibility, and easy access to information. Meanwhile, real-time support and assistance were identified as a pain point, with other concerns in the UAE relating to personal information security. Respondents expressed concerns regarding transparency, collection, and storage, while 90 per cent of regional correspondents attributed their personal information worries to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
“Despite the value that digital government services have delivered for citizens, doubt has become apparent concerning data and AI”, said Rami Riad Mourtada, Partner and Associate Director, BCG. “Developing understanding and trust is imperative, and leaderships are mandated to guarantee users are unmistakably familiar with every component, from how data is circulated and used to the government policies that are in place. To mitigate and overcome such concerns and ultimately ensure ethical use, a viable option for governments is to create new regulatory frameworks, offer education, and communicate effectively in every instance”.
