The First Edition Of The UAE m-Government Guidelines Completed And Ready For Review By Government Entities

Led by the UAE Prime Minister’s Office and the TRA, the m-government document will serve as an essential guideline for all UAE government entities

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is pleased to announce that the team behind the m-government initiative has produced the first ‘m-government guidelines’ that will act as a comprehensive reference document for UAE government departments. As government departments prepare for the provision of their core services across mobile platforms, the document will serve as an essential guide for the transition.

This step comes in line with the directives of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, which call for the completion of the transition to m-government at the national level within two years. The concerted efforts of all local government and federal government departments are central to achieving the targets outlined in the UAE Vision 2021.

HE Mohammed Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: "It is a great honor for the TRA to be part of this great national project where everyone is working coherently to realize the vision of our wise leadership. We are very happy with the spirit of cooperation that our partners in the local and federal government entities have shown during this process and the previous introductory period where we worked together to draw the smart government roadmap."

In line with these guidelines, the m-government executive commission of headed by H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, TRA Deputy Director General of Information and e-Government, held several meetings and workshops with the participation of many federal and local government entities. During these workshops, discussions were held in relation to the next phase of the program taking into consideration the perspective of government entities while outlining the road map ahead for m-government to establish information guides and outline the future benefits that necessarily result from the shift towards m-government.

H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri said that the commission has succeeded in developing the first comprehensive guide, which was distributed to a group of ministries and federal entities in addition to the electronic local governments to take their view points and feedback on the consultation.

"We are committed to involve our partners in local government in this action following the clear instructions from our wise leadership which imply that the whole project from start point to the end should engage all national partners. For us, the successes achieved by local e-government during the previous period represent a crucial element of the wider success of the m-government initiative," said Mr. Al Mansouri.

Mr. Al Mansouri went on to praise the participation of the Abu Dhabi e-Government, Dubai e-Government and Ras Al Khaimah e-government in the discussions held on the development of the guide along with the rest of the federal entities. In addition, Mr. Al Mansouri stated that given the short time frame the m-government guide would have not have been a success without the commitment and concerted efforts of all parties involved.

After the review of the initial version of the guidelines is completed, the necessary adjustments will be made to improve it. Then, the guidelines will be published in both Arabic and English to will be featured on the official portal of the UAE Government (government.ae).

Mr. Al Mansouri pointed out that the first version will remain open to improvement in accordance with the feedback that will occur through the consultation progress. During the next phase, the m-government committee and TRA will hold several workshops and meetings to both introduce and explain the guidance evidence while demonstrating how to use them in order to achieve their goal.

This version of the guide includes sections related to the security of e-government applications, planning and setting priorities, usability, user experience, content and interactive features.

Although the core sections of the guidelines are derived from international standards, the document takes into consideration the local context and the policies and standards applied in the development of online presence in general.

Emirate:  Abu Dhabi

Date: Jul 21, 2013

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