Over 9 million visitors to UAE’s Government Unified Digital Platform ‘U.AE’ in H1 2023

ABU DHABI / WAM

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) announced that 9.1 million people visited the UAE’s Government Unified Digital Platform “U.AE” from the beginning of 2023 until the end of June, reaching 14 million visits.
The semi-annual increase in the average number of pages viewed was 3.52 percent, compared to the same period last year, reflecting users’ confidence in U.AE’s content, which includes comprehensive government information and services useful for citizens, residents, visitors and the business sector.
TDRA works constantly on developing U.AE’s content to meet customers’ expectations, in cooperation with federal and local government entities.
TDRA launched the generative AI-supported version of UAE’s Government Unified Digital Platform.
The upgraded version of U.AE uses generative AI algorithms to achieve live interaction between the user and the platform, while ensuring privacy by using UAE Pass to log in the platform. When the user logs in and searches for information and services, he gets his needs in an individualised and accurate manner, thanks to the use of AI algorithms and UAE Pass, thus, he gets his needs quickly, without going through a long process of navigation between several options.
TDRA announced that most of the visits made by users were related to inquiries about entry permits, visas and their validity, unemployment insurance system, tourist visa, golden visa, Emirates ID, and other topics of interest to the general public.
Commenting on U.AE’s performance in the first half of 2023, Mohammad Al Zarooni, TDRA Deputy Director-General, said, “Since its launch, the UAE’s Government Unified Digital Platform has strengthened its position as the first source of information and government services in the UAE. This success was not the result of a single effort, but rather the result of cooperation and the spirit of one team that includes all government entities, as each entity reviews the content relevant to it on the platform. Moreover, the process of development takes place in a spirit of harmony and shared purpose.
“This was reflected in the happiness of the platform’s customers, as the happiness level reached (90 percent). It was also reflected in some key indicators, including the Online Service Index and the Digital Participation Index. U.AE is the first destination of international assessors who measure the extent of the development of digital governments in the world. The UAE ranked first in the Arab region in Digital Government Development overall index, as well as in sub-indicators such as the OSI and the E-Participation Index.”
Analytical figures indicate that the majority of visitors to the platform came from the UAE at a percentage of 55.52 percent, followed by India, then the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Germany, Qatar, and Oman, respectively.
U.AE consists of five main sections, including the information and services section, the UAE section, the E-Participation section, the media section, and U-ask section. The information and services section addresses many topics such as work, investment, tourism, infrastructure and visa, in addition to a complete list of all government services in the country.
The second section covers the history of the UAE in different eras, as well as the plans and strategies of the UAE to foresee the future and achieve comprehensive development. This section also covers the country’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The Digital Participation section lists the channels of communication with the UAE Government, as well as platforms for consultation, instant chat, and others. The recently added “U-ask” section aims to leverage AI algorithms to achieve live interaction between the user and the platform.