UAE tops MEA in biz skills
dubai — The UAE is recognised as a global centre of business talents and has topped the region in business skills as it gets busy building a strong digital nation.
The latest Coursera 2020 Global Skills Index (GSI) highlights that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are on the right track to build capabilities in both business and tech, but fall behind in data science skills. The GSI highlights skill trends for the Middle East and Africa region, illustrating skill strengths for the UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as a need for regional reskilling across domains.
The UAE’s position as a global centre of business talent stands out, as it ranks fifth globally and first in the MEA in business skills, according to the report. This is further underpinned by UAE Vision 2021.
The UAE, however, lags in data science skills that are essential for digital transformation. It ranks fourth in the Middle East and Africa and 50th globally, with 17 per cent skills proficiency. This highlights a general shortage of data scientists across businesses and a lack of adoption of data-driven analytics.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia leads the UAE and the rest of the region in technology skills, ranking first in the MEA region and 28th globally. In line with the country’s Vision 2030, learners are rapidly reskilling to capitalise on opportunities created by the country’s digital transformation efforts.
And while Saudi Arabia is leading the race of becoming the biggest regional tech hub, following its recent major investments in artificial intelligence and financial technology, it still lags in data science skills. It ranks fifth in the region and 54th globally in data science skills with only 10 per cent skills proficiency.
“During a global slowdown, public and private sector institutions across the Middle East must accelerate reskilling efforts that prepare workers for a rapidly changing economy,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera.
Sandrine El Khodry, vice-president for the MEA at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, said: “The UAE has been at the forefront of the digital transformation revolution. This was evident from how the public sector continued to provide services online, while rolling out e-learning initiatives during the full lockdown.”
Mohamed Abdallah, regional director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at SonicWall, said: “As economies transform into digital environments, securing these platforms becomes the No.1 concern for businesses. We are seeing a quick and aggressive demand toward enforcing best security practice apart from adopting a holistic approach toward security.
Fadi Kanafani, general manager and managing director for the Middle East at NetApp, said: “Only few countries emerged as visionaries and forward thinking as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic; the UAE has topped the list. Most — if not all — governmental services continued to be available despite the challenges with hardly any interruption as a result of the country’s digital transformation initiatives that were put in place few years back. It was almost as simple as saying ‘let’s put our investments and executed strategies into practice’, and they did it.”