The reports states, despite UAE having one of the highest mobile phone subscription rates (171.9 percent) in the world, the country still has lack of access to the Internet that is depriving many of its citizens the opportunity to take full advantage of e-learning as well as adopting to online financial, data, and health services.
Crucial to achieving societal and economic transformation is the ability to embrace the Internet of Everything (IoE), the connections between people, process, data and things to create unprecedented opportunities for the UAE’s citizens, and public and private sectors.
In order to embrace the IoE, the UAE’s government and businesses must be fully digitised, supported by a highly robust and secure network. Becoming digital requires an agile IT model, and the ability to rethink core processes for the digital era. Embracing new security, cloud, mobile, social and analytics technologies required to fully digitize takes imagination, investment and expertise. This is why Networked Readiness is such a crucial indicator of a country’s ability to implement and take full advantage of ICTs.
Taking a cue from the GITR report, Cisco suggests that the government should shape up policies that will spur development of broadband access. The company reinforced its commitment to the nation by claiming that Cisco is committed to working with public and private sector organisations in the UAE to work on strategies for the digital transformation, thereby helping them transform their IT strategy, connect everything, embrace analytics, and secure technology and operations.
Rabih Dabboussi, General Manager, Cisco UAE said, “At Cisco, we have learned that technology helps people find innovative solutions to address societal problems. We believe there has never been a better time to combine human ingenuity and technological innovation to improve the lives of all Emirati citizens. As home to the world’s second-fastest employment growth, the wider Middle East is ripe for transformation and is an increasingly attractive environment for global business investments. Technology is at an inflection point and the UAE’s economy needs to prioritise ICT adoption to take full advantage of the benefits that embracing digital transformation strategies will offer.”
