IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

According to a report of the study published online this month (2 August) in Scientometrics, about 88 per cent of ICT publications in South Asia originate in India.

• IMD Smart City Index 2023 highlights the top African countries driving smart city initiatives.
• Cairo, Algiers, and Cape Town lead the pack, driving urban technological advancements.
• These nations embrace technology for sustainability, shaping Africa's smart city revolution.

As the world enters a new era of urbanisation, smart cities are emerging as beacons of progress, embracing technological innovations to create sustainable and efficient urban environments. The IMD Smart City Index 2023 provides valuable insights into the cities at the forefront of this transformation.

In recent years, formation of E-government is considered one of the factors contributing to further development of democracy in developed countries.

It became necessary to apply a unified approach and standards in the formation of state information resources and systems, their management and ensuring their mutual integration, as well as accelerating the transition to the digital government.

Bahrain ranked fifth in Asia and 26th internationally in e-government development efforts, a UN report has revealed.

According to the 2018 UN E-Government Survey, Bahrain maintained its ranking among countries scoring very high on the E-Government Development Index (EGDI).

Only two Arab countries, Bahrain and the UAE, were among the eight Asian states which ranked among the high performing countries.

Bangladesh suffered a drop in the 'Inclusive Internet Index 2021' among 120 countries compared to its position in 2020, according to a latest global report.

The country has ranked 82nd on the list this time while it ranked 79th in 2020, showed the index report, commissioned by Facebook and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Bangladesh has ranked 119th among 193 countries in the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) 2020, according to a new report.

Earlier, the country held a similar position in the EGDI published in 2018.

Bangladesh, however, emerged as one of the leaders in e-government development among the LDCs, according to the latest report.

Despite the expansion of the fourth generation (4G) telecom network, Bangladesh has scored low among digital societies in the Asia Pacific region, according to a global report.

It said Bangladesh outperformed only Pakistan among 11 nations studied in the report styled as 'Digital societies in Asia Pacific: Accelerating progress through collaboration' prepared by the GSMA.

Bangladesh has slipped four notches down to 119th position in the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) that measures the position of a country in terms of provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity.

Despite a downward move in ranking of 193 countries, Bangladesh has scored 0.5189 in the index that is higher than 0.4862 secured in the 2018 edition of the EGDI, according to the report.

Prospects of Belarus' digital future were discussed today in Minsk at an international forum in the field of telecommunications. Our country is in the top 40 in the world ranking of readiness for e-government. And by the level of e-services development our country is 32nd among 200 countries. A new step towards the digital transformation will be the introduction of ID-cards, which will open a simple and easy access to e-services for Belarusians, e.g. obtaining certificates literally in one click. Experts believe that e-government enables a new era of communication between the state, the citizen and business. And Belarus is making serious steps towards digital changes.

China ranked 34th among 193 countries around the world in terms of availability of online services in e-government development, according to a United Nations survey.

The Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs on Friday jointly issued the Chinese version of the United Nations E-Government Survey 2018 report.

On the path to a smart city future, a handful of population centers are showing its potential.

By 2050, the UN predicts that 70 percent of the global population will live in urban areas. The influx of citizens moving to cities accelerates urbanization around the world, and many nations are looking to adopt smart city concepts to coincide with this unprecedented growth.

Riyadh has maintained its position as the 3rd Arab city in the IMD Smart City Index (SCI) 2023, which saw for the first time the Saudi cities of Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah included in the index, ranking the 4th, 5th and 7th respectively.

At the global level, Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah have ranked 30th, 52nd, 56th, and 85th respectively out of the 141 cities included in the index produced by The Smart City Observatory, which seeks to find out how technology is enabling cities to achieve a higher quality of life for their inhabitants.

Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse in southern China, ranks top among China's provincial governments for online services, said a report released by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Wednesday.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang, two coastal provinces in eastern China, claim the second and third places in the rating, while Shenzhen, a tech hub in Guangdong, leads the city listing.

Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse in southern China, ranks top among China’s provincial governments for online services, said a report released by the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Wednesday.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang, two coastal provinces in eastern China, claim the second and third places in the rating, while Shenzhen, a tech hub in Guangdong, leads the city listing.

Four Indian cities—New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru—witnessed a significant drop in their rankings in the global listing of smart cities that was topped by Singapore.

The Institute for Management Development (IMD), in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design (SUTD), has released the 2020 Smart City Index, with key findings on how technology is playing a role in the COVID-19 era.

It noted that the electronic and field census of the country's population, buildings and institutions for 2011 has played an important role in the change of Kuwait's rank.

In cooperation with Ministry of Telecommunications, the CSO has updated all data related to information and telecommunication sector in Kuwait and was sent to all relevant international organizations.

A very key report has recently been published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. This publication is entitled the “E-Government Survey 2012, e-Government for the People” and its main objective is to understand and present the degree to which each UN member country has managed to utilise e-government services as a means to help it achieve its economic, social and environmental goals.