Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
The UAE has emerged as the Arab world's leader in digital readiness, topping regional rankings and earning global acclaim as the second-best nation for its visionary government leadership in advancing emerging technologies, according to the 2024 Network Readiness Index (NRI).
The report, published by the Portulans Institute in collaboration with Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and backed by Amazon Web Services, positioned the UAE 28th globally with an overall score of 62.79, placing it ahead of global powerhouses such as China and Russia.
It credited the nation's achievements to its strategic focus on emerging technologies, robust digital infrastructure, and government-led initiatives, a combination that "positions it well for future digital growth".
"The United Arab Emirates demonstrates impressive digital development," the report added, emphasising its performance in access to digital infrastructure (4th globally) and the adoption of emerging technologies (3rd).
The UAE also "excels in government promotion of emerging technologies", securing the second place worldwide in this category, and "shows remarkable performance in developing ICT skills in the education system", where it ranked 7th.
Technology serves as the backbone of the UAE's digital success, earning it a 21st-place ranking in this category, with the report lauding the country's openness to innovation. This strength is further highlighted in the technology sub-pillars – access, content, and future technologies – where the UAE secured two top-10 positions.
Riding high on the momentum of progress, the widespread availability of digital infrastructure propelled the country to the 4th spot in the Access sub-pillar, while its commitment to innovation earned it the 8th position in Future Technologies. However, its 63rd-place ranking in Content indicates potential gaps in fostering a more robust digital ecosystem for localised and creative content production.
The UAE's digital infrastructure stands strong on affordability and accessibility, the report added, ranking 10th globally for mobile tariffs and 15th for international internet bandwidth. It also leads the world in handset affordability, securing the top spot globally for low device costs.
In the People pillar, where the UAE ranks 12th globally and leads the Arab world, the nation is recognised for "strong government-led digital initiatives", which is also reflected by its 11th spot in the Government sub-pillar. In addition to government-led initiatives, this pillar evaluates how effectively a country equips its population and institutions to leverage digital technologies, with a focus on individual usage and enterprise integration.
The UAE also made a strong showing in the Impact pillar, ranking 33rd globally and once again leading Arab nations. The report highlighted the country's focus on quality of life, where it ranks 17th globally, driven by advancements such as the prevalence of the gig economy (11th) and strong metrics in health and wellbeing (27th).
