UAE, Morocco list strides to enhance digital govt services in 2024

The governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt say they deployed a litany of efforts last year, through different initiatives, aimed at facilitating access to a wide collection of citizen services, thereby enhancing their digital government strategy

In the UAE, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the UAE was at the forefront of this government drive which saw the rollout of digital government services, including to citizens living abroad, and earning a more than 95 percent satisfaction rating from users.

A summary of the activities on the MOFA website mentions the “Smart Mission” project as one of the major moves which saw the deployment of digital technologies for the simplification of government procedures which enabled users to access certain public services without any need for human assistance. The UAE opened its first-ever Smart Mission in the Republic of Korea in May last year.

The Smart Mission project meant that citizens living abroad were able to access consular services with the help of AI-based technologies such as facial recognition using the foreign ministry’s website or the MOFA mobile application.

The success of last year notwithstanding, the Director of UAE Nationals Affairs Department at MOFA, Bushra Ahmed Al Matrooshi, reiterated the commitment of the ministry to further improving digital government services using state-of-the-art technologies.

The official noted that they will continue to make use of secure technologies that will enable citizens get access to high-quality and comprehensive services, in line with the directives and prescriptions of the country’s President, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Morocco records gains, issues 4.6M digital IDs

In Morocco, a report from the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN) indicates that major strides were also recorded in terms of delivery of digital services to citizens.

According to Atalayar, the DGSN efforts in the last year included a huge step forward toward the digitization of public services and the streamlining of access to government services, improvements in the areas of national security, and a continuation of the second phase of issuance of national digital ID card which has proven vital for ID verification and authentication.

The DGSN said it worked with government as well as private partners on other projects including the launch of a new generation biometric passport and residence permits, the extension of a project dubbed “National Trusted Third Party Platform for Digital Identity Authentication” which has seen the integration of at least 30 institutions and enterprises, as well as the upgrade of a digital police platform to facilitate access to police services using a digital ID.

Per Morocco World News, the DGSN issued over 4.6 million digital IDs in the course of the year, with 3.4 million of this number issued from the Rabat center. This is in addition to efforts that were made to build and expand digital ID issuance infrastructure such as in rural areas where 80 mobile units with ID processing capabilities were deployed and served at least 130,000 people.

The government agency said it also recorded major achievements in terms of enhancing national security and preventing crime, as well as in the modernization of technological infrastructure.

This year, the DGSN says it will pursue its digitization efforts by making more use of AI-based solutions as well as the implementation of a smart cities project to further improve national security.

Digital govt efforts will deepen in Egypt

Like the UAE and Morocco, another country in the Middle East and North Africa region which is also engaged in efforts to ramp up its digital government strategy in order to improve access to public services is Egypt.

During a meeting last month with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and Communication and IT Minister Amr Talaat, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi spoke about the need to fully implement the “Digital Egypt” project which entails the putting in place of infrastructure that facilitate access to government services.

As reported by MENA, the Egyptian leader directed that the government accelerate efforts on various digital transformation aspects including digital literacy and skills, data governance and data protection, the integration of AI for public service delivery, cybersecurity, as well as innovation, research and development.

A presidential spokesman for President Sisi, Mohamed el Shenawy, also mentioned the president’s desire to have a more connected Egypt where citizens can get easier access to improved communication services.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital identity  |  Egypt  |  government services  |  Morocco  |  UAE