A futuristic government for post-Covid-19 world

New UAE cabinet’s digital structure will help anticipate and tackle crises effectively

It is a government for the future. With a solid foundation entrenched deeply in the traditions and principles of the union, the new government structure is what the UAE needs in the post-coronavirus era. Announced by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday, the new cabinet is centred around a digital structure, with a strong emphasis on the preservation, development and growth of the national resources.

The abolition of 50 per cent of the traditional services offered by the federal ministries and moving them online is a landmark decision that reflects the direction of the new government and its role. The move is also significant in striving to trim the bureaucracy and save massive financial and manpower resources. Offering those services over the counter while they are accessible online was a costly duplication.

New entities that set the tone for the government of the future includes the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence and Remote Work Applications Ministry, and the office of the Digital Government. “The future work environment in medicine, education and trade will change dramatically,” Shaikh Mohammad said. “The goal is one digital window for the government and a comprehensive and complete digital transformation. Recent changes have proven that digital government is an indispensable strategic choice,” he added.

There is an increasing universal consensus that the post-Covid-19 world is nothing like the one that was before January 2020, when the pandemic struck. The new era will affect the role of governments. Reactive governments will find it difficult to address the fallouts of the pandemic, let alone tackle future challenges that could be worse than the coronavirus outbreak.

The new structure is an answer to those challenges. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that effective, agile and progressive governments were the most successful in tackling the crisis that has been plaguing the world for the past six months.

The UAE was a leader among those governments, and its proactive approach allowed the country to resume its economic activities, travel and tourism sectors well before others. It had the confidence to avoid the setbacks faced by some countries.