MOSUL TIME RADIO
While Iraq was out of the United Nations E-Government Development Index 2024, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain topped the list of Arab countries in the index, while Denmark, Estonia and Singapore topped the global ranking of 193 UN member states .
The global index measures the scope and quality of online services, the state of communications infrastructure and human capabilities .
The index indicated that the 18 leading countries in digital development are high-income countries .
As for regional leaders, the report showed that South Africa topped the African continent, the United States topped the Americas, Singapore topped the list of Asian countries, Denmark topped Europe, and Australia topped the Oceania region .
Saudi Arabia ranked sixth globally, jumping 25 places to become one of the top 10 countries in the world. The Kingdom had advanced 12 places in 2022, supported by e-government initiatives. Riyadh also ranked third after Tallinn and Madrid in the local e-services index out of 193 cities around the world .
The UAE followed Saudi Arabia to occupy the 11th place globally, then Bahrain in the 18th place, followed by the Sultanate of Oman in the 41st place, Qatar in the 53rd place, Kuwait in the 66th place, Morocco in the 81st place, Tunisia in the 87th place, and Egypt in the 95th place .
The report stated that despite the intersecting and worsening global crises in recent years, countries and regions around the world have rushed to commit to digital government strategies .
The survey shows that great strides have been made in digital governance, supported by investments in resilient infrastructure and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing .
However, the report finds that while digital transformation has sparked innovation and growth, particularly in the private sector, many countries still face obstacles in fully leveraging these developments to enhance public services and participation, which are key components of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals .
He explained that for the first time, Member States with very high EGDI values constitute the largest share, representing 39 percent of the total number of countries assessed. Overall, 71.5 percent of Member States are now at high or very high EGDI levels .
Due to significant improvements in service delivery and telecommunications infrastructure, the global average e-Government Development Index has increased overall, with the proportion of the population lagging behind in digital government development declining from 45.0 percent in 2022 to 22.4 percent in 2024, according to the survey .
This progress is largely due to significant progress in Asia, and steady improvement in the Americas, where more countries have joined the very high EGDI group, according to the report .
While all regions have made progress in various areas, the report finds that the pace of development has been uneven and regional disparities persist .
The report explained that Europe is the leader in the field of e-government development, but Asia is advancing faster than the other four regions, as 53% of countries in the region have very high values for the e-government development index .
In Africa, Mauritius and South Africa moved into the group of countries with high EGDI values, marking the first time that countries from this region have reached the highest level. However, most African countries’ EGDI levels are below the global average. The report notes that there are still significant disparities in digital infrastructure, connectivity, digital skills, and e-government readiness within the region .
Oceania is characterised by a significant disparity in digital development, with Australia and New Zealand remaining at the forefront of the region and the world, while small island developing states still face significant challenges in digital progress, the report said.
