The UAE climbed up the ranks in digital competitiveness globally this year, emerging as the key regional digital hub on the back of improvements in regulation for tech development and access to capital, according to the latest survey from IMD Business School.
The country jumped five notches to 12th place in IMD's World Digital Competitiveness ranking. In its peer group of countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the UAE rose to seventh place from 10th.
"The UAE improves in all digital factors to a different extent," Jose Caballero, senior economist at the research centre in Lausanne, told The National. "At the indicator level, the UAE performance is based on the availability of digital/technological skills, prioritisation of employee training, the ease of starting a business, protection of intellectual property rights, the effectiveness of the banking and financial services in terms of supporting businesses, communications technology and e-participation."
The country has prioritised the strategic goal of digital transformation, with Dubai's ambitions to turn into a smart city and Abu Dhabi's Ghadan 21 programme striving towards a knowledge-based economy. For the first time in May, the UAE was ranked among the top five competitive economies out of 63 countries ranked by the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings. The country now ranks first globally for business efficiency, as its economy made advances in productivity, digital transformation and entrepreneurship.
The third edition of the annual IMD digital report measures the capacity and readiness of countries to adopt and explore technologies as a major driver for economic transformation in business, government and society. It evaluates countries based on three factors: knowledge or the capacity to understand new technologies, technology or the competence to develop new digital innovations and future-readiness or level of preparation for upcoming developments.
The UAE rose in all three ranking criteria, indicating an improvement in its future readiness at 9th place from 12th, according to IMD.
The country topped the global ranking for improvements in immigration laws, international experience of its talent pool, technology regulatory framework, wireless broadband, use of big data and analytics and the agility of its businesses.
Mr Caballero said at the sub-factor level, the drivers behind the UAE's performance are training and education, regulatory framework, capital, technological framework, adaptive attitudes and IT integration.
To further improve its competitive edge, the UAE can focus on scientific pursuits in aspects related to research and development (R&D), Mr Caballero said. This includes increasing total expenditure on R&D as a percentage of gross domestic product, total R&D personnel per capita, and R&D productivity by scientific publication.
In terms of training and education, the UAE can target improvements in total public expenditure on education, higher education achievement, pupil-teacher ratio (tertiary education), and graduates in sciences, he said.
In terms of training and education, the Emirates can improve total public expenditure on education, higher education achievement, pupil-teacher ratio (tertiary education) and graduates in sciences, he said.
The UAE has issuedlong-term visas for entrepreneurs and investors to attract talent and boost the ease of doing business in the country. Long-term visas, which can be renewed automatically, were first announced in May last year. Foreign investors, scientists, entrepreneurs and the brightest students can now qualify for five and 10-year visas.
The country can be more future-ready by "striving to sustain the current levels of business agility and adopting or developing new technologies so as to strengthen the technological framework and IT integration trends," Mr Caballero said.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, advanced three places to 39th by improving companies' perceptions of regulatory support for tech adoption and availability of capital for investments. However, R&D intensity and e-government indicators declined.
Globally, the US retained its No 1 ranking as the most competitive digital economy.
Unchanged in the index among the top five were Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland.
"In the midst of uncertainty and a fluid global situation, it seems that business and societies that are agile correlate strongly with the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking," said Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre. "Knowledge also remains of paramount importance for the digital performance of different economies."
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
