Her Excellency Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, Chairperson of the Supreme Committee for Government Digital Transformation, confirmed during a meeting with 45 Arab government officials, representatives of regional and international organizations, and experts in the digital field that the “Arab Digital Agenda”, which is being developed in partnership between the United Nations Economic Commission The ESCWA and the League of Arab States represent a major and important project to enhance government digital transformation in the Arab region.

This came during a meeting with members of the joint technical committee for the project to develop, develop and activate the Arab digital agenda, within the work of the consultative conference and expert meetings on the digital agenda, and the Arab Global Forum for Digital Cooperation and Development, which were organized in Dubai, in partnership between the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the digital government in the UAE The Arab Union for Digital Economy, and the  Mohammed bin Rashid  School of Government, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy for Technology in New York.

Ohood Al Roumi stressed that the world is witnessing an unprecedented acceleration in the pace of change, driven by digital technology and its innovative solutions that shortened decades of development in a few years, and which is expected to accelerate further in the future, and that it is very important for governments to keep pace with this development to meet challenges and turn them into A system of opportunities that improve its performance and positively reflect on societies, noting the importance of developing and activating the digital agenda with a comprehensive perspective for all areas of government work, whether in policies, legislation, business models or even organizational structures.

The Chairperson of the Supreme Committee for Government Digital Transformation said that the UAE government believes that achieving digital transformation requires the development of new work methodologies and building a government digital mindset that invests in the opportunities of the digital world and transforms them into essential elements in the work system, thus contributing to the transition from the digitization of business to the adoption of Digitization is mainly in government thinking and design.

She added that the changes and developments that the world is going through, carry many challenges for digital transformation initiatives and projects, which require government policy makers in the Arab region to work on initiatives and projects to develop the digital capabilities and skills of government employees, noting that accelerating digital transformation requires strengthening cooperation and targeted partnerships between Governments at the region level, and expanding digital partnerships with technology leaders in the private sector.

Ohood Al Roumi praised the role of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the League of Arab States in promoting efforts to develop the Arab digital agenda, which will represent a supportive element for Arab countries in accelerating digital transformation processes, and thanked the Communications Regulatory Authority, Digital Government and the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government for their Their effective partnership with Arab and international organizations in supporting efforts to accelerate digital transformation.

For his part, His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Sebaa Al-Marri, CEO of the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, said that the college will remain a regional and global platform to review the most prominent solutions to various challenges.. It reflects the college’s hosting of the work of the (consultative conference and expert meetings on the Arab Digital Agenda and the Arab Global Forum for Digital Cooperation and Development This trend that we are working to consolidate day after day in order to enhance the role of the college and its contribution to policy formulation and to create a framework for cooperation between various stakeholders in various fields in order to improve the performance of governments and the growth of various sectors.”

His Excellency added: “We are pleased today with the visit of Her Excellency Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, Chairperson of the Supreme Committee for Government Digital Transformation, to the consultative conference at the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government.. We are confident that the conference will be a starting point towards strengthening digital cooperation for more of development among Arab countries during the next stage.

Dr. Ayman El-Sherbiny, Head of the Information and Communications Technology Policies Department at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), said: “The Arab digital agenda led by ESCWA and the League of Arab States in partnership with UN and Arab organizations represents a long-term joint Arab framework to advance digital development in general with all its components, whether Digital transformation, digital economy, digital infrastructure, digital governance or digital media, and it includes digital advancement in all economic and service sectors in the Arab countries. This is done through a unique model that revolves around unifying the vision related to digital development at the Arab level, and setting goals and objectives for each of the agenda’s axes to be achieved in a specific period of time.”

He added: “We thank the UAE government and all those responsible for organizing the consultative conference and expert meetings on the Arab Digital Agenda and the Global Arab Forum for Digital Cooperation and Development, represented by the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government, and our partners in the Arab Federation for the Digital Economy. We thank them very much. to employ efforts to make this event a success.. We look forward to organizing more activities in the coming period in order to implement the Arab digital agenda, and to achieve more development for the whole region in joint cooperation.”

It is noteworthy that the consultative conference and expert meetings dealt with a number of tracks interconnected with the Arab digital agenda, and its agenda included a preparatory meeting for the second session of the Arab Global Forum for Digital Cooperation and Development 2023, in addition to several activities aimed at formulating a version of the Arab digital agenda 2023-2033, which will be submitted for approval by the Council of Ministers Arab Telecom and Information in its next session in late December 2022, and then launched for implementation in the first quarter of 2023.

The conference and forum witnessed the wide participation of government officials in Arab ministries and bodies concerned with the communication sector and digital transformation, a group of Arab and international experts in the digital field, representatives of regional and international organizations, global companies and the global technological community, and the ESCWA and Arab League team supervising the preparation of the Arab digital agenda.