IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Saudi Arabia ranked first in the Government Electronic and Mobile Services Maturity Index for 2023, issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Kingdom maintained its lead for the second consecutive year with a high maturity score of 93 percent in the overall index result.

Eng. Ahmed Alsuwaiyan, governor of Digital Government Authority, said that this international achievement reflects the outcomes of the efforts made by government agencies in digital transformation. It is also the manifestation of the great support that the digital government ecosystem receives from the wise leadership, to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 programs in building a digital society and investing in new technologies to increase productivity, achieve efficiency, and provide the best experience for all beneficiaries.

Thanks to this initiative the citizens of Värmland have now access to approximately 100 eServices, making it easier for them to handle their administrative matters. Karlstad municipality, another municipality in Värmland county has for some years been offering to its citizens access to electronic services. The most popular ones are those applying for preschool places, civil marriage and parking permits.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal hopes that electronic trust services between the European Union and Ukraine will be mutually recognized in the coming years.

He wrote about this on his Telegram channel after a meeting with Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

• Singaporeans can now scan their face to log into SingPass, as well as send an SMS one-time password to another SingPass user’s mobile number

Biometric security measures keep gaining in popularity as use cases pop up in all manner of sectors, with the latest in Singapore being the addition of facial recognition verification to access online governmental services via SingPass, the official e-government account for Singapore citizens.

Officials within South Africa's Gauteng provincial government have lauded the e-government programme saying it will help to fast-track the provision of broadband connectivity to link up government departments, agencies and service delivery points.

The programme, which is already being implemented in the province, will be launched officially at a two-day ICT Summit in Johannesburg.

The summit will cover e-learning, e-health and other ICT investments that have the potential to improve service delivery reads a statement from government.

In Summary

• The Africa Digital Transformation Market is projected to reach $30.24 billion by the end of 2025 and is expected to grow to $63.31 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.90%.
• The digital economy's contribution to Africa's GDP is expected to reach 5.2% by the end of 2025, up from 1.1% in 2012, according to Digital Realty.
• Average technological capabilities in African Union Member States have nearly doubled, increasing from 25% to 41%, according to AUDA-NEPAD. Public cloud deployment held a 63.0% share of the African digital transformation market in 2024.

The General Department of Taxation plans to debut its e-tax application for mobile devices, Etax-mobile, in August to facilitate taxpayers particularly amid the complicated developments of COVID-19. So far, about 99% of enterprises in the country are using electronic tax services. However, the proportion is much lower among individuals due to inconvenient support software. This is why the department began the development of Etax-mobile. In the immediate future, the application will be provided for individual use on iOS and Android platforms.

In addition to supporting functions provided on the e-tax system via the web platform, the application will provide enhanced user experience services, additional search functions, and links to banks’ payment applications, according to a news report. The department said that, with 60 million individuals having tax codes, the use of Etax-mobile will help taxpayers easily access related administrative procedures and communicate with tax authorities. They can transparently and conveniently fulfil their tax obligations anywhere.

“I didn’t know we could send text messages to inquire about government services. I guess I could use the services to check the weather forecast or if I have any traffic tickets,” Ehab Naieem, a 30-year old employee at a wholesale store in Amman, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

A number of other events will be held in conjunction with the Conference, including the GCC eMaturity report, eGov ICT Exhibition, GCC Search Engine Launch, 18th Middle East eGovernment and eService Excellence Awards and Highlighting Cyber Crime '&' Hacktivism.

According to statistics provided by the portal, out of 417 approved state services the portal offers 179 services, and 109 services (26.1%) of them actively.

New research outlines trends for the coming decade and an action plan with some controversial recommendations to inform the decisions of policymakers around the upcoming Digital Services Act

The European Parliament has published research outlining technology trends for the next decade, such as 6G, autonomous transport and personalised healthcare, along with recommendations to enable European countries to be at the forefront of digital, including the creation of a regional internet.

The implementation of the program of actions to form e-government in Azerbaijan for 2010-2011 will promote expansion of the list of e-services, provided to the population.

The statement came from Deputy Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Elmir Velizade speaking to journalists on November 22.

As part of its Programme on AI and Digital Transformation for the Public Sector, UNESCO trained civil servants on AI and digital governance.

The world is increasingly digital. As technology reshapes societies, governments are accelerating digital transformation to better understand and serve their citizens. A 2021 UNESCO survey found that 90% of African countries, including Nigeria, wished for support for AI capacity-building for civil servants.

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has launched 27 new electronic judicial services for the public at GITEX Technology Week. The new services, which are available through the ADJD website, greatly enhance ADJD’s customer service through a comprehensive suite of electronic services that covers all of its divisions, administrations and sections.

The launch of this service comes as part of a strategic plan aimed at widening the scope of e-services offering, better service to community members, and provision of ultra modern services enabling customers and the public access to municipal services in parks and recreational facilities across Abu Dhabi.

The Dubai Courts Department on Wednesday launched a special counter to provide litigants and other customers with swift and easier access to its electronic services.

The counter, located in Naif Hall — the DCD’s central hall, provides customers and litigants, including lawyers and legal representatives, with advanced and effective access to most of the department’s e-services, according to Dr Ahmad Bin Hazim Al Suwaidi, the DCD’s director-general. The e-services are available on www.dc.gov.ae.

Starting from October this year Dubai residents will be able to access all government services using their Emirates ID, Dubai eGovernment announced on Monday.

MyID is a new initiative launched by eGovernment in cooperation with the Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID). The initiative will cover all government entities in Dubai and will include more than 20 government entities in its first phase.

Dubai launched its e-government services in 2000 for the efficient delivery of official services, such as business registration, licensing, immigration and visa-related services, government permits and renewals for healthcare services, driving licences, among others.

Since then it has taken off, while other governments in the Arab world are still catching up.

This project falls in line with one of the main initiatives in the federal e-government strategy as adopted by the Council of Ministers last year. The formulation of the standards is also in response to the directives issued by the UAE leadership to complete the e-transformation at the federal government level within a 24 month timeframe. The ‘e-service Quality Standards’ document outlines a range of electronic empowerment mechanisms to boost the efficiency of online government services. It also provides a list of evaluation points that the government entity can refer to in order to measure the quality of each electronic service, its level of maturity and whether it complies with the requirements.

The Department offers this new service via devices which enable the user to pay outstanding fines and fees, type the registration cards and receive it from the device itself without having to wait for their turn at the customer service counter.