UAE Tops Global Rankings in Telecom Digital Government & Content

The United Arab Emirates has ranked first globally in telecommunications infrastructure, digital government framework, and digital content, according to the second edition of the State of Digital Transformation Report. The report was launched by the Higher Committee for Government Digital Transformation during the Digital Readiness Retreat in Dubai.

The document outlines the country’s progress in digital governance across 12 sectors including health, education, finance, justice, economy, and infrastructure. It also details the UAE’s global positioning in a range of international benchmarks. In addition to topping multiple UN indices, the UAE ranked first in Oxford Insights’ Government AI Readiness Index 2024, third for government service delivery, fourth in the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index, and 11th in both the IMD Digital Competitiveness Index and the UN E-Government Development Index.

In 2024, federal government entities processed 173.7 million digital transactions. Federal websites recorded 131.5 million visits, while mobile government applications were downloaded 26.3 million times. The number of digital services reached 1,419, with 195 classified as priority services. The overall satisfaction rate was reported at 91 percent, with more than 57 million users benefiting from these services. There are currently 460 ongoing digital transformation projects across federal institutions.

The report states that digital transformation has led to AED 368 billion in user savings and AED 20 billion in reduced government operating costs. It also saved 530 million labour hours and contributed to a reduction of 55.8 million tonnes in carbon emissions.

The UAE Pass digital identity system registered 10.8 million users and is now integrated with over 15,000 services. It supports a total of 2.6 billion transactions. In the economic sector, 5.2 million tax filings were processed alongside over 300,000 origin certificates and trademark requests. The finance sector reported thousands of new vendor registrations, market accreditations, and foreign fund renewals. Human resources services included over 13 million work permit applications and employment contract transactions.

In healthcare, 2 million prescriptions were dispensed through robotic pharmacies, 1 million AI-assisted chest X-rays were conducted, and 437,900 remote consultations took place. Education platforms supported over a million learners, with hundreds of thousands of university course registrations processed. Justice and security sectors recorded millions of digital fines, vehicle registrations, and criminal record applications. In identity and residency, millions of ID and permit renewals were completed. Infrastructure, logistics, environment, and cultural services were also delivered digitally across thousands of transactions.