Near-universal digital adoption pushes UAE toward stronger trust frameworks

Research commissioned by Idemia Secure Transactions (IST) shows a majority of digital service users in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) want stronger security and trust frameworks to better protect their transactions as the country inches closer towards 100 percent digital adoption.

According to the study, the country is considered one of the most digitally connected with 97 percent of citizens being frequent users of digital services. The findings, reported by Khaleej Times, also show 79 percent of them use smartphones for most of their online engagement, and 86 percent of users would like to make use of payment cards for online identity verification.

However, many of them (71 percent) say they are concerned about the safety and security of their data during such digital operations, with 40 percent of respondents confessing that security is among the most important things they look out for when choosing to use a digital service.

Such security and trust considerations are extremely vital, per the report, as 63 percent of those surveyed confessed having experienced a hack or data theft, with 32 percent having incurred direct financial losses as a result. Sixty-three percent of respondents also said they believe AI is making cyberattacks more sophisticated, and 83 percent of those who are familiar with quantum computing hold it is a cybersecurity menace.

As part of efforts to enhance security and trust, many users have called for privacy-first authentication systems as well as those that use biometric liveness detection or encryption.

Results of the Idemia findings in the UAE underscore the importance of trusted and embedded security keeping pace with the digital transformation drive of countries, where the goal now is no longer merely onboarding users onto digital channels, but ensuring that every digital interaction is cryptographically secure and resistant to impersonation.

For the UAE, this probably signals the need for more efforts in the implementation of its National Cyber Security Strategy (2025–2031), which is already in force.

The high digital adoption rate in the UAE has also been driven by the growing adoption of the UAE Pass, which is now used by more than 12 million people. It is at the heart of millions of digital transactions yearly.

Recently, the UAE Pass was recognized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a model worth emulating by countries seeking to establish integrated digital government infrastructure. It was recognized for its trust-centric design, human-centric approach, and the ability to integrate and avoid duplication across agencies.

In a report titled “The GovTech Compass: Ten Principles for the Responsible Implementation of GovTech and Digital Public Infrastructure,” the WEF described it as a system that exemplifies how governments can avoid fragmented systems by building a unified and reusable digital identity that prioritizes trust, integration, and human-centric service delivery.

The report praises UAE Pass as a unified digital identity used across government and private sector services to enable secure authentication, e-signatures, and access to hundreds of services.

In the meantime, the UAE authorities have announced that the renewal of the Emirati ID can now be done a year before expiry. In an upgrade reported by Gulf Business, authorities say they aim to make the delivery of government services easier and flexible, in furtherance of the government’s human-centric service delivery vision. This comes after a similar move had been announced for passport renewals.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital ID  |  Emirates ID  |  government services  |  IDEMIA  |  trust framework  |  UAE  |  UAE Pass