Dubai: As the World Government Summit gets underway in Dubai, underscoring technology trends impacting society, governance, and the global economy, KPMG’s Unlocking Government’s Technology Future – based on findings from the KPMG Global Tech Report 2024, reveals that public sector executives, including those in the Middle East, are positive about the value of their investments in digital transformation, despite challenges with talent, regulation, and trust.

A vast majority (85 percent) are prioritizing emerging technologies over maintaining legacy ones, and there is increasing sophistication within public sector technology programs. In fact, the public sector is benchmarked marginally higher than the private sector in terms of progress on XaaS, cyber security, Web3, and data and analytics strategies.

In the UAE, strategic public sector investments in technology are setting new standards in innovation, especially in the integration of AI with cloud computing. Recently, the Abu Dhabi Government announced plans to allocate AED 13 billion to foster innovation and technology adoption under the Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy 2025-2027. Meanwhile, the Dubai Universal Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence aims to accelerate the adoption of AI applications and contribute AED 100 billion annually to Dubai's economy, boosting productivity by 50 percent.

Mohamad Majid, Partner, Digital and Innovation at KPMG Lower Gulf, said: “The UAE is at the forefront of digital transformation in the region, integrating cutting-edge solutions to maintain global competitiveness and foster economic growth. Our research observes that UAE tech leaders place a higher emphasis on fostering communication between business functions and improving employees' tech literacy, ensuring that their organizations are well positioned to influence internal strengths and utilize human capital as foundational pillars for their digital initiatives.”

According to KPMG’s research, leaders are focusing on understanding how generative AI will impact productivity, where it will enable human capacity to be refocused onto more value-added tasks, and where it might influence service delivery.

However, the urgency to adopt AI has also exposed various challenges, including trust, transparency, regulation of these new technologies, and the lack of skilled professionals to develop, deploy, and manage AI solutions. For AI to be successfully adopted building public trust in AI is essential for its successful adoption, and governments should be transparent about how it is used.

KPMG’s research highlights how governments can become active enablers and adopters of AI solutions. By providing the necessary tools and frameworks to guide the responsible development and application of AI solutions, competing for new skills and capabilities, and tapping into strategic partnerships, they will be able to adapt and thrive in the face of continuous technological advancements and disruptions.

About the Global Tech Report 2024

The study is based on a survey of 2450 executives from 26 countries and territories across Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Americas and Asia Pacific.

The government and public sector cut includes 120 respondents (60 percent from Europe, Middle East and Africa, 21 percent from Asia Pacific and 19 percent from the Americas). Three quarters of respondents represent organisations with more than 1,000 employees and 50 percent hold C-Suite roles (CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, Chief Digital Officers, Chief Data Officers, and Chief AI Officers). The remainder hold SVP or senior technology roles in their organizations. More information can be found on this proprietary survey in the KPMG Unlocking government’s technology future report.

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