In its efforts to improve the UAE ranking in the UN e-Government survey, a delegation from the General Information Authority (GIA) headed by Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Director General of GIA, on Wednesday, visited the Ministry of Education offices in Dubai.
The delegation was received by Ali Mehad Al Suwaidi, Acting Director General, and Badryah Yousuf Hussain, IT Director at the Ministry. GIA delegation included Salem Al Housani, Deputy Director, and Ebrahim Al Badawi, Strategic Planning Specialist.
The meeting agenda included a review of the methodology used in evaluating e-governments and the previous results of the UAE e-Government. The two teams discussed the plan that has been developed to improve the ranking of the UAE in the e-Government Index and the roles of each side in implementation and follow-up.
Al Suwaidi complemented the cooperation from officials at the Ministry of Education to put the plan into practice.
He said, "We have touched a deep realisation from our brothers at the Ministry of Education of the importance of working closely together in order to improve the online presence of our country and prepare for the next evaluation which will take place by the end of this year."
The UAE ranking in the United Nations e-Government Index has declined from 32nd place in 2008 to 49th in 2010.
"One of the main reasons behind this decline was that at the time of the evaluation, there was no active online portal for the UAE. As a result, we lost some points," Al Suwaidi said.
"Another factor behind the decline is that a number of government websites need a lot of improvement and we are working to address these issues in the next few months," Al Suwaidi added.
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Quelle/Source: GulfNews, 08.01.2011

