The Gulf countries are way ahead of their Arab peers in eGovernment readiness with Bahrain and the UAE occupying the top rankings in the region, said a survey.

According to the '2010 UN eGovernment Readiness Survey,' Saudi Arabia has advanced from 70 to 58, and Kuwait from 57 to 50, and Oman from 84 to 82, which is attributed to the continuous investment in IT infrastructure by these countries.

The growing efforts by GCC governments to promote digital transformation and literacy has helped further enhance the region's collective ranking in the 2010 UN eGovernment Readiness Survey, which presented various roles for e-government in addressing the global financial crisis, said ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body and the certification authority of the International Computer Driving License program in the Gulf states.

"Bahrain and the UAE occupied the top two rankings respectively among Arab countries in the survey, followed by Kuwait at third, Saudi Arabia at fifth, Qatar at sixth and Oman at eighth."

Commenting on the results, the ICDL Foundation said countries worldwide are keen to advance their rankings in the 'UN eGovernment Readiness Survey,' which is clearly shown by Bahrain jumping 29 points to take rank 13 worldwide after being ranked 42 in the survey in 2008."

The survey pointed out that eGovernment has helped underpin regulatory reform, while promoting greater transparency in government.

Moreover, eGovernment has enhanced the delivery of public services, enabling governments to respond to a wider range of challenges despite the difficulties in the global economy.

Jamil Ezzo, director general, ICDL GCC Foundation, said: "The results are encouraging to the GCC countries as it confirms that the delivery of eGovernment and commercial e-services are improving and gaining a wider acceptance from the public."

"This momentum presents the GCC countries another opportunity to reach out to the wider public, provided that Information and Communication Technology becomes more affordable, so we call on all the stakeholders such as telecom operators in the region and hardware manufacturers to consider affordable solutions to the larger masses," he added.-TradeArabia News Service