It advanced its ranking from 60 in 2004 to 42 in 2005, stated the report, e-Government Readiness Report 2005, from e-Government to e-Inclusion, published by United Nations Online Public Network and Finance, UNPAN.
"This is a testimony to the UAE federal government determination towards openness, effectiveness and efficiency," said Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Kharbash, UAE Minister of State for Financial and Industrial Affairs and Chairman of Federal e-Government Steering Committee.
He said the e-Government aims through the e-Portal to increase individual and cross-departmental collaboration, improve public interaction and involvement, and centralise content management for all government ministries and entities with decentralised eServices
The portal provides a self-service channel to deliver personalised information and to transact with the citizens, customers, employees, and partners. It is set to act and serve as a key tool to both reduce the cost of doing business and to increase revenue by facilitating interactions that are mutually beneficial to citizens and corporations.
The UN report praised the inclusion of the UAE government's ministries highlighting the Ministry of Education site, www.moe.gov.ae, which includes participatory features. "It was perhaps especially noteworthy because in addition to being re-branded it is one of the few government sites in the Middle East that offers an open-ended discussion forum," stated the report.
The United Arab Emirates gateway to e-services an interesting feature on the UAE gateway www.government.ae is that the government entry site is organised by end-user, providing information, services, and transactions under separate sections for residents, business, visitors, and government. Impressive features on the site itself include up-to-date information, as well as registration and eTenders, which incorporate online bidding for public tenders.
In addition, the government gateway provides clear access to two excellent portals, one of which is e-Dirham portal, www.e-dirham.gov.ae, for transactions, and the e-Forms portal, www.uaesmartforms.com, for online forms advancing its interactive presence.
Quelle: Khaleej Times, 26.12.2005
