Hamdan speaks at UN Digital Cooperation Roadmap event

His Highness Sheikh  Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council delivered the keynote address at a virtual high-level event held to launch the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation chaired by the United Nations Secretary General  Antonio Guterres.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed praised the UN’s efforts to unite the international community with the aim of creating a better future for  the world, and emphasised the UAE’s commitment to all international initiatives that seek to build bridges between countries and communities, as well as harness digital technology to serve people.

The virtual event to launch the new initiative was attended by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the Swiss  Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga, President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada, and a number of prominent international officials.

Sheikh Hamdan said the UAE is committed to boosting collaboration and knowledge sharing to achieve sustained and accelerated development,  as well as enhance constructive international dialogue to benefit from opportunities in various sectors, with a focus on vulnerable communities and those that face obstacles due to the lack of technology and technology infrastructure.

His Highness also stressed on the importance of preparing for future changes, adding that the UAE Government, under the leadership  of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh  Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is ready to share its expertise in developing the region’s most advanced digital government operations with the international community.

HH Sheikh Hamdan delivered the keynote address as part of the virtual high-level event on “The State of The Digital World and Implementation  of the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation”.

“The Roadmap initiative will boost digital collaboration between governments and encourage the support of the private sector and international organisations,  as well as individuals around the world,” His Highness said. “The UAE is committed to any initiative that promotes international dialogue, as it is a key supporter of the UN,” he added.

“In the last three months, the world  has witnessed a phase in history that will be discussed in history books. We have witnessed tremendous challenges and vast progress at the same time and we have all seen the problems of not making our government systems and policies agile and ready for any  upcoming disruption whether it is good or bad,” His Highness said. He stressed the importance of investing in the future, saying, we need to “invest in what is to come, not what is already here.”

The UAE Government under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has continuously invested in digital transformation over  the last 20 years, which enabled us to continue operations 100% in the public sector through virtual means, His Highness said. “This pandemic has proven that we cannot work separately or individually, and there is no country that will be better off working  alone. There is no better time to build bigger and more flexible bridges than today,” said His Highness.

“More than 46% of global communities lack access to the internet. We have to accelerate efforts to increase internet access to half the globe. There  are many opportunities to promote digital collaboration and push it forward in various sectors,” His Highness said.

His Highness also shared the UAE’s experience with attendees. “In the UAE, we are keen to adopt changes and promote rapid development.  We have adopted a unique approach to plan for the future. We know that the world will go through radical changes, and that we need to speed up our development journey.”

“We can build the future by harnessing digital collaboration. Technological development won’t happen without collaboration between  all members of the international community.”

During the event, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is shifting to digital technology at a faster pace than people could ever have  predicted.  This creates both vast promise and some peril.