IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Emirates ranking jumped one place to 17th globally

The UAE’s global ranking in digital competitiveness continued to improve as it secured the 17th position in IMD World Digital Competitiveness 2018 report.

The region’s second biggest economy also maintained its lead in the Middle East chiefly due to Dubai’s strong push towards digitisation and embracing new technologies to make the emirate a smart city.

NRI, which is published annually, measures the preparedness of an economy to use ICT to boost competitiveness and well-being and tracks the development of ICTs around the world.

The report assesses the digital ecosystems of 144 developed and developing countries — accounting for more than 98 per cent of the world’s GDP.

The country, which came 42nd in 2005, has outperformed other Gulf countries. The report ranks Bahrain 42nd, followed by Qatar at 53, Kuwait at 57, Saudi Arabia at 70 and Oman at 84.

The number of internet users in the Arab World is expected to rise to about 226 million by 2018, says the Arab Knowledge Economy report 2015-2016.

The UAE ranked first on 2015 E-performance Index with average of 67.35 per cent, according to a new research launched on Tuesday.

The research further revealed that GDP of Gulf countries constitutes around 60 per cent of the total Arab world GDP. Saudi Arabia ranked first in Arab World GDP with $753 billion and the UAE ranked second with $401 billion GDP.

Oman’s ranking has improved in the eGovernment Survey 2018 published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Oman ranked 63 out of 193 countries.

Compared to the 2016 scores, Oman has improved on all three indices and is ranked sixth among the Arab countries and second in the Online Services Index. Oman made great improvement in the eParticipation index by 33 positions to be ranked 43rd.

India has broken into the top 100 in the United Nation’s E-government Index in 2018, Financial Express has reported. India’s rank has improved by 22 places in the past four years and 11 ranks in the past two years. Currently, India occupies the 96th position in the ranking.

The UN E-government index is released once in two years.

A global report on digital quality of life placed Vietnam at 54th out of 85 economies and 15th in Asia, surpassing many of its neighbors.

Vietnam scored an average of 0.5 on a scale of 1 and is ahead of many Southeast Asian neighbors like Thailand (63rd), the Philippines (66th) and Indonesia (71st), according to a report released by Surfshark, a virtual private network service based in the British Virgin Islands.

Vietnam targets climbing 10-15 places in the U.N.’s E-Government Development Index global rankings and breaking into the top four in Southeast Asia by 2025.

The Ministry of Information and Communications said in an order on Thursday that it would help other government agencies and local administrations improve their e-governance.

It hopes to develop e-government in a manner that people can avail government's services and information anytime and anywhere they need.

The Smart City Expo World Congress will take place in Barcelona on 15-17 November, and several Luxembourg representatives will be present. Here are some of their visions of smarter urban design.

In its Smart City Strategy Index (SCSI) 2019, global consulting firm Roland Berger analysed 153 cities worldwide, ranking Vienna as number one. The Austrian capital scored a total 74 points out of 100. London took second place (73 points), while third place (72 points) went to St. Albert, Canada, which has a population comparable to that of Luxembourg City.

Abu Dhabi has been ranked the “Smartest City in the MENA Region” for the second consecutive year in the annual IMD-SUTD Smart City Index (SCI) released today in collaboration between the IMD (Institute for Management Development) World Competitiveness Center and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

According to the new report, Abu Dhabi has risen 14 places to 28th in the global smart cities ranking. Almost 15,000 city dwellers were surveyed in 118 cities around the world. They were asked about the performance of their respective cities in terms of health and safety, mobility, activities, work and school, and governance.

Abu Dhabi surpassed several international capitals to rank 13th globally out of the 141 cities included in the current ranking

For the third consecutive year, Abu Dhabi ranked as the smartest city in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for 2023, according to the IMD Smart City Index released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland in collaboration with the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

In its efforts to improve the UAE ranking in the UN e-Government survey, a delegation from the General Information Authority (GIA) headed by Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Director General of GIA, on Wednesday, visited the Ministry of Education offices in Dubai.

The delegation was received by Ali Mehad Al Suwaidi, Acting Director General, and Badryah Yousuf Hussain, IT Director at the Ministry. GIA delegation included Salem Al Housani, Deputy Director, and Ebrahim Al Badawi, Strategic Planning Specialist.

Dubai outperforms Zurich, Oslo and Geneva in key transport indicators

Dubai has advanced eight places to rank 4th globally in the IMD Smart City Index 2025, marking a major milestone in its digital transformation journey.

The achievement reinforces Dubai’s position as the highest-ranked city in the GCC, the Arab world and Asia, and highlights its status as a global leader in smart city development and future-ready urban innovation.

The Middle Eastern cities have surged in the Smart City Index compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) with Dubai and Abu Dhabi entered the top five for the first time while Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar) and Manama (Bahrain) have made it to the top 50 global ranking.

This is a huge marker of urban growth and sustainability in the Middle East. The Index is the most comprehensive of its kind, ranking 141 cities around the world, looking at their infrastructure and technology to see how it improves the lives of the people who live there.

Surpassing several major world capitals

Abu Dhabi's abundant green spaces, free public Wi-Fi, excellent public transportation and effective traffic management propelled it from tenth to fifth place in the 2025 IMD Smart City Index, surpassing several major world capitals.

HE Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of DMT, said: “Over the past five years, Abu Dhabi has steadily climbed the world’s smart city rankings, moving from 14th place in 2020 to 5th place this year. This is a major achievement for the whole of Abu Dhabi and further cements our position as one of best places in the world to live, work, and visit.

The index, which is being developed in collaboration with INSEAD International Business School, will monitor and follow up the progress being made by the emirate towards becoming a knowledge-based economy by 2030. It will also identify the potential gaps in the process of economic transformation, said Mohammed Omar Abdullah, undersecretary of the DED, at a knowledge management conference in the Capital.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA, launched the Arabic version of the United Nations E-Government Survey 2020, during the regional webinar "E-Government Development in the Arab Region" organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, ESCWA.

The importance of the survey, which is issued every two years by the United Nations, stems from its inclusion of new directions of UN standards in e-governments, and from being a reference for governments and digital transformation programs in Arab countries.

While the cities of Zurich in Switzerland, Oslo in Norway and Canberra in Australia are ranked as the best smart cities in the world by the 2023 report of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, five African capitals such as Tunis in Tunisia are also honored for their prowess in the digitalization of services in the face of climate change.

Cairo in Egypt, Algiers in Algeria, Cape Town in South Africa, Rabat in Morocco, Tunis in Tunisia. These five African metropolises are included in the ranking of the best smart cities in the world recently drawn up by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. In its “Smart City Index Report” 2023, the IMD assessed the extent to which municipalities have taken into account new technological advances.