Held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain the forum took place in Manama, Bahrain from June 24th - 27th and was attended by over 1,000 people from 100 countries. Over 200 working papers were discussed and submitted during the event. Led by Mr. Salem Al Hosani, Acting Deputy Director General for Information & E- government Sector, the UAE delegation also included Eng. Meshal bin Hussein, aeCERT Operations Manager and Eng. Mohammed Al Khamis, Manager, ICT Planning, TRA. As part of its participation at the four day event, the UAE delegation showcased key milestones in the UAE eGovernment roll out process in addition to highlighting some of the Authority's most recent innovative initiatives. As part of the workshops dedicated to GCC countries, Eng. Meshal bin Hussein presented on the UAE's "Smart Government" initiative as well as providing an in-depth look at the successes surrounding the establishment of the United Arab Emirates' Computer Emergency Response center, "aeCERT". During his presentation, Eng. Mohammed Al Khamis discussed the success story behind the registering of the national domain name ". ae" and the Arabic domain name " .امارات " As part of the UAE delegation, Mr. Salem Al Hosani participated in the ministerial round table under the subject "measures taken by countries to encourage innovation in the public sector with the view to providing a better future for all." He also took part in a meeting of officials and program managers in GCC countries to discuss obstacles and solutions to e-government implementation. Discussing the need to produce a guiding strategy of e-government in the GCC, representatives present discussed ways to collaborate and coordinate efforts. On the last day of the event, the TRA delegation congratulated the UAE government entities who had won the United Nations Public Service Award, wishing them continued excellence and prosperity going into the future. It is also worth mentioning that the UAE won three out of ten awards allocated to those in the "West Asia" region. H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said, "Through eGovernment and soon mGovernment initiatives, the UAE continues to pave the way forward with regard to making public services more relevant and accessible to its citizens. In order to maintain a pioneering role in public services and ICT innovation, it is crucial for us to seize opportunities to meet our international peers, exchange knowledge and learn best practices while showcasing our leadership when it comes to the effective use of ICT in government services. Working alongside bodies like the United Nations is an important part of the UAE's national plans and we look to the future of ICT with great promise." The UAE government recently improved on its ranking in the United Nations' E-Government Survey's 'eGovernment development index' published biennially. In the survey, governments of member states are ranked according to online service delivery, telecommunication infrastructure, human capital and the availability of eParticipation channels. The UN evaluated the official UAE federal government portal (government.ae) in addition to the websites of six federal entities. A number of features were assessed including the level of compliance with international standards, the availability of eServices as well as the platform for citizen engagement in government policies and initiatives. As per the UN E-Government Survey 2012, the UAE was ranked 28th in the 'eGovernment development index' up from 49th in the 2010 survey. The UAE also climbed to 7th position from 99th for 'online service' and were up from 86th in 2010 to 6th place in the 'eParticipation' category. Organized yearly at a global level since 2003, the UN Public Service Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony gathers innovators from the across the world to present and discuss initiatives that aim to enhance citizen engagement and improve quality of life. This year's event focused on the theme of "Transformative e-Government and Innovation: Creating a Better Future for All".