The UAE has entered into the Agile Nations Network, a group of seven nations focusing to promote government innovation, build a regulatory environment and take up innovative solutions to address future challenges.
On the occasion of joining the network, the UAE Cabinet Minister, Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi stated that developing a next-generation government needs stronger international partnership, adopting innovative solutions to meet the future challenges and making changes to address the emerging requirements.
The agreement was signed by the UAE during the ‘Agile Governance for the Post-Pandemic World’ panel arranged by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The panel included 15 government officials and private sector executives to address the prevailing issues that emerged due to the pandemic and to discuss the ways to redesign regulations through innovative government models that would facilitate economic growth, social development and entrepreneurship.
The charter aims to encourage best international practices when developing new regulations by ensuring that it is technology-neutral. It also promotes methods to allow businesses to test innovations through regulatory sandboxes.
Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi Minister of State for Government Development & the Future – UAE
“Good governance, innovation and agile regulations are key pillars in developing advanced models, which will help design the future of governments. The UAE government is proud to endorse the Agile Nations network, which would help adopt agile governance and innovation to build strong, capable, and resilient governments, and enable them to tackle future challenges with proactive solutions.”
During the virtual panel, the OECD set up a framework for its 37-member states to promote innovation regulations in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which will be adopted in 2021.
“The Agile Nations network is an extremely timely initiative to truly foster international regulatory cooperation for better, innovation-friendly and up-to-date regulations worldwide,” Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, deputy secretary-general of the OECD said.
WEF also published a guide to better regulation of emerging technologies. “Our Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution help governments, businesses and citizens co-design for the future enabling the innovation that will be needed to create jobs, maintain competitiveness and ensure resilience to shocks,” said Murat Sonmez, managing director of WEF.
The UAE signed the charter along with Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the UK to pave the way for governments to share their plans to encourage innovation.
The charter uses innovative methods to support economic growth and design solutions to address social and environmental challenges in priority areas including green technology, data and communication, financial services, rulemaking and legislation, medical diagnosis and treatment, as well as mobility.
Global technology giants including IBM and Facebook will implement the charter to support emerging technology companies and innovative projects in testing new ideas.
