Mobile penetration rates are sky rocketing in the Middle East and is increasingly consumers’ preferred channel for interaction, even with government services, according to a YouGov survey.

 

The leading market research consultancy’s UAE Mobile Government Satisfaction Survey (mGSS) measured UAE residents’ level of awareness, usage and satisfaction with mobile-based government services, including m-services (SMS-based services) and mobile applications provided by governmental entities in the UAE.

 

The latest wave of this research measured the opinions of 4,151 UAE residents with the overall results showing that they give government mobile-based services an m-Government Satisfaction Index (mGSIndex) score of 77.3, 10 points higher than the satisfaction score residents give for online services provided by government institutions, which is 67.1 overall for the same period.

 

The mGSI score is a composite index of four dimensions - overall satisfaction, recommendation, satisfaction with the m-Government strategy and ease of interaction, that is, the extent to which mobile services help consumers to interact more easily with government institutions.

 

The mobile-based services offered by the UAE government help consumers to interact more easily with their institutions, giving them a score of 79.7, said the research. 

 

The results also revealed that residents would highly recommend government mobile-based services to family and friends with a score of 79.1. 

 

Respondents also displayed high levels of confidence in the m-government strategy implemented in the UAE, giving an overall satisfaction score of 78.2.

 

Despite high levels of satisfaction among users of m-government services, overall awareness among the general population is low with only four out of 10 UAE residents (39 per cent) having heard about the m-government programme. 

 

The awareness varied by nationality with Arab Expats (58 per cent) and Emiratis (47 per cent) being the most aware of the mobile initiative compared to other nationality groups. 

 

Awareness and usage of government owned mobile applications (apps)

 

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) topped the government app awareness rankings grabbing the most attention from UAE residents for its RTA Dubai mobile app, followed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) who claims awareness from 46 per cent of the population for their app, and the Dubai Police who capture 41 per cent awareness from residents across all seven emirates.

 

The RTA Dubai mobile app also has the highest penetration rate of 23 per cent in the UAE, followed by Dewa, Dubai Metro and mPay, whose mobile apps are used by 15 per cent of UAE residents.

 

Awareness and usage of government operated m-services (pull services)

 

MParking – Dubai SMS, RTA – Salik SMS and Dubai Police – Traffic Fines SMS were the most widely known government operated m-services used across the UAE.

 

MParking – Dubai SMS has the highest number of users with over half of UAE residents saying they have used the service in the previous three months, followed by RTA-Salik SMS and Dubai Police – Traffic Fines SMS. - TradeArabia News Service