UAE listed 10th in World Digital Competitiveness Ranking
ABU DHABI, September 30, 2021
The UAE has been ranked tenth in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021 issued by the IMD World Competitiveness Centre (WCC) of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
According to the 2021 rankings, the UAE tops the Middle East and North African region and outperformed some major economies, such as Finland, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, Germany, France, Japan and Belgium, Emirates news agency WAM reported.
The UAE (18th in 2017) has shown strong advancements as its digital competitiveness has been boosted by increasing investments in digital technologies in the private sector as well as the development of e-government services.
Now in its fifth year, the IMD ranking measures the capacity and readiness of 64 economies to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society.
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and President of the Emirates Competitiveness Council Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi said that the UAE’s top ten rating in digital competitiveness is a new achievement, which is part of its efforts to enhance its stature as one of the world’s best countries.
"The UAE has proven its ability to overcome challenges and turn them into inspiring opportunities. This achievement is to be added to the country’s record in global competitiveness and highlights its ability to keep pace with the government's work approach," he added.
Based on research, the methodology of the WDC ranking defines digital competitiveness into three main factors: Knowledge, Technology, Readiness for the Future. In turn, each of these factors is divided into 3 sub-factors which highlight every facet of the areas analyzed. Altogether, the WDC features 9 such sub-factors.
In this year’s report, the UAE topped MENA countries, ranking first in all key categories, as well as fifth globally in 'Technology', 12th in 'Readiness for the Future', and jumping 13 places to 18th in 'Knowledge'.
In the report’s nine sub-factors, the UAE was ranked first globally in 'Talent', advancing four places compared to last year’s report, as well as second globally in 'Regulatory framework', fifth globally in 'Technological framework', 25th globally in 'Education and training', and 10th globally in 'Business agility' and 'IT integration'.
The UAE was ranked first globally in four indexes, which are 'Cybersecurity', 'Net flow of international students', 'Immigration laws' and 'Mobile broadband subscribers'.
The country was ranked second globally in 'Foreign highly-skilled personnel', 'International experience' and 'Attitudes toward globalisation', and third globally in 'Management of cities', 'Companies’ use of big data and analytics', and 'Opportunities and threats'.
The UAE advanced significantly in several indexes in the report, jumping 31 places in both 'Internet users' taking the 4th globally, and 'Higher education achievement', coming 16th globally.
The country also jumped 22 positions in the 'Mobile broadband Subscribers' index, ranking 12th globally, as well as nine positions in the 'Women with degrees' index, reaching 10th place globally.
