Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI (DUBAI)
On the second day of the World Governments Summit 2025, Aletihad spoke to various experts about governments' and other sectors' readiness to adapt to rapidly evolving ICT and AI technology.
Dr. Yasar Jarrar, Member of the Board of Trustees, Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, said: "The World Governments Summit today has been focusing a lot on technology, advanced technology and the future of governments. Our participation has been specifically focused on Arab governments and we just launched a survey that covered 1,600 government employees and managers looking at the readiness for the coming wave of AI applications in government.
"We were posing the question: are we ready? Do we have the right productivity measures? Today, the world is going through a massive change in government restructuring, seen today in the US government in the Department for Government Efficiency, seen in New Zealand with the Department for Regulation.
"And we are asking ourselves, how ready are we in the Arab world to get into this reform and are we ready for the future competitiveness that is related to AI? And the report has produced a couple of very big recommendations."
These ideas, presented during the discussions at the Arab Public Administration Forum at the World Governments Summit, have resulted in concrete projects aimed at advancing government modernisation in the region, Dr. Jarrar added.
A regular participant at the annual summit, Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News in Saudi Arabia, noted that the summit is an important platform to get decision-makers, government officials, media professionals, intellectuals, investors, and business executives together to share their views on challenges and opportunities.
"It was [the summit] which highlighted the risks and challenges, for example, that artificial intelligence brings, but also the opportunities that it brings, which was definitely the highlight in the last two years. As the world continues to evolve, it is very important to take part in such events, listen and try to add your experience to the table."
Visitor, Dr. Farida Al Hosani, Executive Director at Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre, noted that there was an intersect between health and the environment, and AI and technology, which would influence the formulation of future health policies.
"We had a couple of sessions and some of the politicians also shared their views and their priorities in their governments. It is really very inspiring to attend this, to learn and also to see what future directions will help us shape our local and international policies," she said.
On the role of AI in healthcare, Dr. Al Hosani added: "AI is not there to replace doctors, but it is an enabling tool that will help physicians and will improve their outcomes for patients. It will also lead to major improvements in therapeutics and vaccines in the future."
She also highlighted key discussions at the summit: "There were a lot of discussions with entrepreneurs and investors in health about areas of focus. We see a lot of advancements in three main domains: preventive, curative and personalised medicine."
Savannah Maziya, Minister of Information, Communications and Technology for the Kingdom of Eswatini, said regarding AI, cybersecurity, and other ICT-related advancements: "We understand that AI is the current and the future and so, as we plan for the country, we plan for our youth and we plan for our continent, we want to make sure that we collaborate with the UAE, but most importantly, we are able to use their exercises and their products, but also ensure that we learn from how they have been able to go forward in as far as AI, cybersecurity and all other ICT related areas are concerned."
