The Arab Federation for Digital Economy reviewed strategic vison programs of priority, stemming from Strategic Arab Common Vision for Digital Economy, this was during the GCC in Smart Government and Smart Cities Conference, held recently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Patrick Osta, Chief of Technology – Arab Federation for Digital Economy, reviewed the objectives of Strategic Arab Common Vision, and its positive impact on political and social stability, achieving sustainability development objectives, creating job opportunities, and enhancing economic growth of the Arab region.

One of the most significant programs reviewed was developing internet infrastructure across Arab countries, to enhance broadband, for social and economic inclusion, within the digital system. And to develop frameworks for supporting digital transformation, and supervising all the activities, technological, legal, as well as the policies required. In addition to establishing world class innovation centers, and supporting them with award programs to stimulate research and development efforts.

The programs reviewed also included an integrated digital learning platform, and telemedicine program, to facilitate managing services of medical care, and to increase its reachability tom improve health and living standards for Arab societies. They also included digital transformation program for government services, in addition, smart accelerators for agriculture and food. Also, the light was spotted on the program of developing digital identities, targeting at certifying digital identity as a solution for citizens identification, and to save a lot of effort, time and cost, and to establish the concept of legal liability of digital identity, under the increase of size of eCommerce transactions in the Arab region. Also, a program was designed to promote the concept of unified Arab electronic market, to include most of the functions of Arab cross-border trade, and to integrate with financial and customs authorities, as well as other concerned authorities in the Arab region.

Those 11 programs of priority, have investments of total amount of one billion and 375 million US Dollars. And as the experiments and statistics suggest, they have an impact that enhance economic growth, of five times as much as that of other traditional means within the same period. This makes the digital transformation in Strategic Arab Common Vision for Digital Economy, the most important accelerator of digital growth across the Arab region nowadays.