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Emirates eGovernment Director General honoured by the Arab League and the Pan Arab Web Awards Academy

Al Suwaidi receives the Arab eGovernment Award in recognition of the role UAE has played in leading eTransformation in the Arab World

We have been inspired by the vision of our leaders and enjoyed their unlimited support: Al Suwaidi

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 01 October, 2011 - H. E. Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Director General of Emirates eGovernment has received special recognition at the eGovernment Web Awards organized by the Pan Arab Web Awards Academy and the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO), a leading non-profit organization affiliated with the League of Arab States . The ceremony was held at Maritim Jolie Ville Hotel & Resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The President of the Pan Arab Web Awards Academy Mr. Pierre Moukarzel presented the Arab Pioneering Award to Al Suwaidi in the presence of many prominent Arab figures. H.E. Marwan Charbel, Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities, H.E. Saleh Abdullah Albo'enin, the Qatari Ambassador in Egypt, Sidqi al-Amous, representative from Jordan, Professor Refat Al-Faouri, Director General of ARADO, Professor Abdul Aziz Bin Salem Al Ruwais, Vice Rector of King Saud University, Sultan Alotaibi, from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Egypt and Khalid Al Hussain of King Abdul Aziz University were among those present at the ceremony.

In his speech at the eGovernment conference, Salem Al Suwaidi highlighted the eTransformation process in the UAE since the launch of Dubai eGovernment in 2001 until now. He expressed his gratitude for receiving the award as Director General of the first eGovernment programme in the Arab World.

Al Suwaidi said, "The UAE's progress in the field of eTransformation wouldn't have been successful without the hard work and joint efforts of all the government departments involved and without the unlimited support of our leaders."

"In 2001, we set up Dubai eGovernment under the directives of H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. What we have achieved has become a model in the field of eGovernance. Today, we are working on activating the federal eGovernment in the UAE inspired by the directions of the President H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. We are determined to live up to the expectations of our leaders in realising the UAE Vision 2021," Al Suwaidi added.

The eGovernment Web Awards seek to promote eGovernment in the Arab World, recognise best websites which comply with eGovernment international standards; recognise the efforts of the Arab governments in improving the quality of services to their citizens through eGovernment and enhance joint Arab action towards creating a transparent and secure digital environment.

The Award ceremony was also attended by delegations of the Arab countries that received awards in the different categories of the eGovernment Web Awards. Delegations arrived from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.Emirates eGovernment has received two awards from the Arab Administrative Development Organisation (ARADO). It has received the "Technical Innovation Award" in the category of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for its corporate website (www.emiratesegov.ae) and the "Best Strategic Website" in the category of official government entities websites for the UAE government official portal (www.government.ae).

According to ARADO, the UAE government official portal and the corporate website of Emirates eGovernment apply the best international standards in terms of website design, content and accessibility features amongst other parameters.

H. H. Sheikh Mohammed had launched the UAE Government official portal (www.government.ae) in May 2011 to bring all eServices provided by the UAE federal and local government bodies under one umbrella. The function of the portal is to act as a single window or a single entry-point for users to access the different federal and local government eServices.

The aim of the portal is to provide more and better online services to the people of the UAE and involve them in the government's policies, laws, and public interest initiatives with the ultimate goal of achieving transparency. The portal also facilitates to boost communication between the customers and the government representatives through the eParticipation channels such as forums, blogs, surveys, polls and social media. The portal offers Open Data, under which, government data and information is made available to the public for further re-use by them under no copyright restrictions.

Emirates eGovernment works in line with the strategy of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and is responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of the eGovernment strategy on the federal level, ensuring robust shared infrastructure for federal government entities, and enhanced government services.

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© Press Release 2011